Without A Clue
by SereneCalamity
Summary: They were best friends. Room mates. Maybe something more...Clace.
1. Chapter 1

_I've got a couple of new stories that I'm starting! They're not going to be added to my normal updating list yet, because they're not going to be updated regularly just yet. I wanted to get your feedback, see what you all thought, and of course_ — _I'm still working on my current stories!_

 _So, I hope you guys enjoy this new story!_

 _Disclaimer: I do not own the characters._

"I have a new room mate rule that I want to propose!" Alec Lightwood announced as he pushed open the front door.

"You can't propose a new room mate rule without all the room mates present!" Simon Lewis cried from where he was sitting in the kitchen, his eyes narrowing at the taller man, as though he already knew what Alec was going to say. "Jace and Magnus aren't here!"

"He has a point," Clarissa Fray agreed from the couch, not sounding at all interested.

"You just don't want this rule to pass because it is specific to you!" Alec fired back as he dropped his bag beside the door.

"Ooh!" Clary spun around on the couch, her eyes wide and a grin on her face as she looked between the two of them. "What's going on? I want to know—tell me, tell me!"

"This morning when I was eating my egg white omelette with spinach and tomato on ciabatta—" that got a snort from both Clary and Simon. "—I almost puked it all over the floor because I hear Simon and my sister fucking in the shower." Clary winced and looked over at Simon admonishingly while Alec just narrowed his eyes and continued to glare at the smaller man. "The communal shower. The shower that _I_ shower in!" Alec looked horrified and scrunched up his nose. "So I want to make a rule that there's no sex allowed in the shower."

"What about the fact that we have had to listen to _you_ having sex in the shower multiple times?!" Simon burst out, getting up from where he was sitting at the kitchen table.

"But not with your sister!" Alec shot at him.

"It's still not a good time—knowing that I'm standing there, using my loofa and shit, and you and Magnus had just been sucking each other off in that same spot just a few minutes before!" Simon made a face and Clary let out another laugh, shaking her head as she looked between her two friends.

"Well, you never brought it up before!"

"That's because you weren't trying to make the shower a 'no-sex zone' because you didn't like the idea of sharing before!"

"It's who I'm sharing it _with_!" Alec cried. "There's something completely unnatural about having sex in the same place where your sister is doing her boyfriend who also happens to be your room mate! Clary—come on," he turned to the red head on the couch, who was watching them both in enraptured interest, her arms resting along the back of the couch with her chin resting on top. "You've got to agree, it's pretty disgusting. What if it was Jon?"

"Oh, don't get me started on Jon," Clary shook her head with a sigh. "I remember walking in on him having sex on our kitchen table when I was fifteen. Talk about unsanitary." Alec's eyes widened in horror and he turned back to Simon.

"You haven't..."

"I haven't—no! Ew! What?!" Simon screwed up his nose and shook his head vigorously. "You think I would have sex on our table?! I'm not some horny teenager!"

"Could've fooled me," Alec grumbled under his breath.

"Hey—"

"Okay!" Clary jumped up from the couch, cutting off whatever rebuttal argument Simon was getting ready and moving to stand between them. "Okay, okay, okay!" She tried to smother her smirk, but she let out a snort of laughter. "Alec, maybe you shouldn't over react, because everyone has sex in that shower and you know it, so chill out. And Simon? Don't be gross—keep your sexual acrobats to a minimum when using the shower because you know we can hear everything that goes on in there through the whole house." Neither of the boys looked happy with her decree, although Simon preened a little at the whole 'sexual acrobats' comment.

"Yo! What's up, party people?!" Came a shout from the doorway as their fourth room mate walked in, looking a little dishevelled but still downright gorgeous. Jace Herondale grinned at the other three in the room and put down his briefcase on the floor beside the door.

"Party people?" Simon raised an eyebrow in surprise, looking between Clary and Alec. "Us?"

"It appears as though he does means us," Clary mused with a thoughtful purse of her lips.

"I know for a fact that you look like the epitome of a 'party person'," Alec grinned as he looked Clary up and down, obviously teasing her night-wear.

"Hey! I'll have you know that there will be some men out there who find this look highly attractive!" Clary shot back at him.

"I think you're attractive no matter what you wear," Jace chimed in.

"There we go!" Clary crowed, holding up her hand as Jace walked past, getting a loud high five.

"He's only saying that because he wants something," Alec said knowingly, narrowing his eyes at his oldest friend, who had hooked his finger in his tie and was loosening it around his neck. Jace narrowed his eyes back at him before relenting and wincing, looking over in Clary's direction. Clary frowned back at him, remote in her hand and poised, ready to continue the show she was watching.

"What do you want?" She groaned.

"Well, I have this work thing tomorrow night, and I totally forgot about it, but it's kind of meant to be this fancy, sit down, dinner and wine sort of shit and I was kinda maybe hoping that you would be my date?" He attempted a charming smile, but was met with a flat look in return from the red head on the couch. "Please? Please, please? You'll be my best friend forever," he sung out with a pout and Clary rolled her eyes.

"I have a wedding tomorrow morning!" She protested.

"So then you'll already be all dressed up and pretty," he wheedled, coming over to the couch and putting on puppy dog eyes, pleading with her. Clary tried to stare him down for a few more seconds before letting out a groan and dropping her head back to the couch, indicating her defeat. "Yes!" Jace jumped up and pumped his fists in the air. Clary glowered at the TV and Jace leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "And just for the record, I do think you look attractive, no matter what you wear," he quickly added before he was heading up the stairs to his bedroom. Clary looked down at her outfit—a pair of tiny, plaid sleeping shorts, an oversized white singlet that read 'Show Us Your Tits', which was undoubtedly Jace's, and her thick, red hair was in a braid, thrown over her shoulder.

"Damn right I do!" Clary shouted after him before resuming what she had been watching. Simon was already dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie, and he came over to sit down on the couch, squinting as he tried to make out what she was watching.

"Really? _Teen Mom_?" He groaned.

"It's a guilty pleasure, okay? It could be worse," Clary shot back at him as she purposefully turned the volume up louder.

"We are choosing something proper to watch when I get back!" Alec warned them over his shoulder as he went down the hallway to where his bedroom was to get out of his work clothes.

"This is proper!" Clary shouted. Alec replied, but it was muffled by the walls between them. Undoubtedly it was insulting, so Clary chose to ignore it, but she knew that when he and Jace returned to the lounge they would take over the television, or at the least—they would negotiate her into watching something that they approved of. Jace was back first, in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white wife beater, and he grabbed a beer from the fridge before joining Simon and Clary on the couch, sitting between Clary and the side. He slung an arm around her shoulders as he made himself comfortable and offered her a sip of beer. Clary took a pull, and then in turn offered it to Simon, who also took a drink before handing it back to Jace. Alec came in, and grabbed his own beer. He crouched down in front of the TV and plugged in one of their hard drives filled with movies.

"What do we feel like tonight?" Alec asked. "Are we in the mood for comedy or action?"

" _Teen Mom_!" Clary insisted.

"No!" Came a resounding shout from all three boys and Clary pouted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Magnus would agree with me," she grumbled.

"What trouble are you getting me into?" Asked a sleepy voice from the hallway.

"Oh, look at that! It's Sleeping Beauty," Jace smirked at the very tired looking Magnus Bane, who was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "If, ya know, Sleeping Beauty bathed in fucking buckets of glitter."

"Fuck you, Herondale," Magnus grumbled, pulling the fingers at the golden haired boy as he stumbled into the lounge and fell into the love seat that he always shared with Alec. "I'm still exhausted."

"It's ten at night!" Jace protested.

"Yeah, well, I was up until three this morning, tending to anorexic models who walk around like they have a broomstick up their ass. And then I got to have two hours sleep on the most uncomfortable sofa in the world, before I had to be across the other side of the city at a photo shoot," Magnus's voice was snippy as Alec moved to sit next to him, sliding on arm around his boyfriend. "I only got about an hours sleep before you lot woke me up."

"Hey, I had nothing to do with this!" Clary defended herself.

"No, it was first when Alec came in, getting all up in arms about hearing Izzy and Si fucking in the shower, and then Jace came in and starting being a pest to Clary," Magnus was continuing to complain, even as Alec pulled his boyfriends legs over his own so that he could massage his feet.

"Hey—I was not that loud!" Jace cried.

"That's bullshit—you're always loud!" Magnus retorted.

"Says the man who wore a bright red suit to a wedding!" Jace shot at him.

"You can't silence fashion!" Magnus sounded offended to the core. Jace just shook his head and rolled his eyes, drinking more of his beer as Clary leaned her head against Jace's shoulder, making herself comfortable. "Anyway, what are we watching?" Magnus mumbled, looking up at his boyfriend.

"Well, I asked the question; comedy or action?" Alec looked around at them pointedly.

" _Teen Mom_!" Clary chanted.

"Aw, were you watching _Teen Mom_ without me?" Magnus pouted at her and Clary shot him a sympathetic smile.

"Okay, I'm just going to make an executive decision and choose _Bourne Legacy_ ," Alec said after no one else offered up any ideas.

"Fuck, yeah!" Clary cheered. "Jeremy Renner arm porn!"

"I'm with you there, babe," Magnus smirked, looking more awake as the two of them stretched out to fist bump. Simon got up to turn the lights off and when he came back, Clary was laying down on the sofa, so that her feet were on his lap and her head was resting on Jace's lap, his fingers carding softly through his hair while the other hand was holding his beer. The movie started and the five room mates fell quiet as they watched.

"Oh, shit!" Clary remembered. "Magnus, are you still okay to do my make up tomorrow morning?"

"Yeah, of course."

"You gonna get a touch up done before we go out to dinner?" Jace teased. "So you look all hot on my arm?"

"You keep bugging me about dinner and I'm not going to come," Clary warned him.

"The other option is you could just get a girlfriend instead of these endless one night stands, and then you'll actually have someone to take to these sort of things instead of dragging poor Clary along with you," Magnus said.

"Aw, come on," Jace grinned. "If you can find a girl who is as smart as me, as good looking as me and as funny as me, then I'll give her shot." There was a groan in unison from the rest of the people in the room and Jace just shrugged, turning his eyes back to the TV as his hand rested against the slender dip in Clary's side.

 _If it wasn't obvious, I'm in love with Jeremy Renner, and more specifically, his arms._

 _Instead of songs, this time I want to rave about a couple of things I've watched on Netflix. Obviously, there's_ Jessica Jones _. Okay, I know, I know, I'm a total Marvel freak, but it's amazing! I've had a few friends who aren't into Marvel at all who watched and they were in love. The second is a documentary,_ Hot Girls Wanted. _It's kinda...Sad and shit, but it's really good. About girls who get into amateur porn and don't really know what they're getting themselves into. And then_ Sense8. _Ohmygod._ Sense8. _It is absolutely incredible. I wasn't into it at first, but I stuck with it, and we binged on the whole season in the weekend. It was unlike anything else I've watched, and I definitely recommend._

 _Oh shit!_ AND I SAW _Captain America: CIVIL WAR_ LAST WEEKEND! _Holy shit. Just as good as I had hoped. Couple of things I was a little iffy on but *sighs dreamily* it was very good. Sebastian Stan and Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner all in one movie makes me very happy :) So if anyone is a Marvel fan and wants to fangirl, don't hold back! Especially if you want to fangirl about Stucky or Sebastian Stan talking in Russian or Wanda, who I absolutely fell in love with in this movie._

 _But especially Sebastian talking in Russian, that was like a spiritual experience._

 _Let me know what you think, and I'll send out a preview for a review xx_


	2. Chapter 2

_There's still no updating schedule for this one, but I've got the next chapter! Also, a massive thank you to_ FrenchBenzo _, who I was meant to thank earlier for putting up with all my crazy plot bunnies and messy ideas._ _There's a couple of things that I need to say and they're kinda serious/sad/angry/whatever so I thought I'd get them over with at the beginning, and then my authors note at the end would be a happy one :) So if you guys wanted to skip forward, totally understandable._

 _The first thing; there's been some real negative reviews going around. Everyone gets them, it's going to happen. It totally sucks, but it's unavoidable. But some people have been going out of their way to leave insanely long, detailed descriptions as to what they hate about stories and, come on, that's just unnecessary. I try to just delete flames and not think about them, they suck and sometimes I get a little pissed off and discouraged, but I try to ignore them. Sometimes it really gets to writers though, and they get mental blocks and choose to stop writing. Can we please just be nice? Constructive criticism—absolutely, but there's a difference. Remember we write for free, and for fun! Come on, everyone!_

 _The second thing; I try not to mention world events on here or even on my social media account for several reasons. But I did want to say I was so upset when I heard about Christina Grimmie dying! I have listened to her on YouTube for years, and I was actually listening to her the morning that I found out she was shot. It's so horrible. I think what freaks me out is I've just listened to her for so long, and she's the same age as me, and it just so scary...It's just not okay :(_

Jace didn't have anywhere that he needed to be the next morning, and so by the time he stumbled out of his bedroom to go to the bathroom, Clary was already fully dressed, her hair and make up done by none other than Magnus. She looked wide awake and gorgeous as usual, her hair all pinned back and eyes accentuated in eyeliner and green eye shadow. She smirked as he tripped over his own feet on his way down the hallway, both fists rubbing at his eyes, trying to clear away the sleep.

"You look stunning," Jace smiled at her, leaning in to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"And you look like shit," Clary replied with a smirk, giving him a one armed hug and a wink. "You better get that hair sorted out before tonight, coz I ain't showing up to some fancy dinner with you looking like a hobo."

"Yeah, yeah," Jace rolled his eyes at her before looking up at the clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be heading off by now?"

"Yup. I'll see you later. I should be home around four o'clock," Clary kissed him on the cheek and started toward the front door of the apartment. Jace took the few more steps toward the bathroom and then frowned when he saw the door was shut. Clary grinned as she pulled open the front door of the apartment. "Magnus and Alec are in there," she told him.

"You're fucking kidding me?!" Jace groaned pathetically. "But I need to piss!" There was a thud and a moan from inside the bathroom and he narrowed his eyes, rolling his eyes upwards in resignation.

"You're gonna have to hold it," she sung out as she disappeared out of the apartment. Jace turned his head toward the door, banging his fist against the wood.

"I know that we're all very proud of how much stamina the pair of you have, but could you _hurry the fuck up?!_ " He shouted.

"Fuck off, Blondie!" Magnus shouted back, sounding a little breathless and Jace sighed, running his hands through his hair. He turned around to go back to his bedroom and past Simon coming out of his own room, his hair sticking up in every direction and bleary eyed.

"Have to wait for the boys," Jace told him tiredly, jerking his thumb in the direction of the door.

"Are you serious?!" Simon growled. "Literally the day after Alec has a go at me for doing the exact same thing." Jace cringed a little as he reached his room.

"It really isn't," he stated.

"It is!" Simon insisted.

"It's not," Jace put his hand on his door to push it closed. "Dude, they're our room mates. You're banging _his sister_. It's _not_ the exact same thing." With that, the door slammed closed behind them, leaving Simon pouting in the hallway.

* * *

"Oh my fucking god!" Clary cried out as she came into the apartment. "I'm so glad I was only the second photographer. That woman was a bridezilla."

"I feel as though every woman turns into some raging, psycho Satan on their wedding day," Isabelle Lightwood piped up from where she was on the couch next to Simon, curled up at his side. "With the amount of crazies I have to do make up for," she made a face. "It's a no wonder that it was made into a reality show."

"I can attest to that," Magnus reached over to slap a high five into the raven haired girls hand.

"Is Jace here?" Clary glanced around as she walked into the kitchen, opening up the fridge and pulling out a bottle of lemonade.

"No, but _I'm_ here," Magnus poked out his tongue at her. "And really, do you need anyone else in your life if you've got me?" Clary snorted as she poured herself a glass of lemonade and came back into the lounge, sitting down on the floor in front of here Magnus was sitting in an arm chair.

"I just needed to know what time to be ready for Jace's dinner thing," she replied as she looked toward the TV.

"He's at the gym," Simon answered Clary's earlier question. "With Alec. They'll be back soon."

"I should probably find out what time I need to be ready by," she muttered as she tapped her fingers over the screen of her phone and sent off a message to their roommate. They all went quiet as they watched the movie on screen. Simon and Isabelle made out at regular intervals, and Magnus and Clary huffed under their breath but generally just ignored them, used to their public displays of affection. While they had all been friends for a long time, Simon and Isabelle had only been together as a couple for six months, so they were still in their honey moon phase. About half and hour later, Clary got a reply from Jace and she glanced up at Magnus. "Jace is going to be home soon, and apparently we're going to leave as soon as he's had a shower and got dressed. Typical that he's cutting it so close to when we have to leave," she rolled her eyes. "Wanna re-do my make up? I don't want to go in my over the top wedding make up?"

"Hey!" Isabelle protested, untangling herself from Simon. "You have a professionally trained make up artist right here, and you choose the hair stylist?"

"That's because the hair stylist doesn't look as though he's two seconds away from an orgasm," Clary huffed out giving Isabelle's flushed cheeks and messy clothes a pointed look. Isabelle shrugged, not at all embarrassed, and went back to kissing Simon. Magnus and Clary exchanged looks, scrunching up their noses and grinning, and then leaving the room to go to Clary's bedroom.

"What are you planning on wearing?" Magnus asked as he flopped down onto her bed. "I mean, I'll do your eye make up to match your dress."

"He said it was fancy dinner thing, right?" Clary started flipping through her wardrobe. She had a lot of dresses, given a lot of her days were spent at weddings or fancy functions, and she was required to be dressed up nicely. Clary loved it—she loved getting all dolled up, with Magnus doing her hair and make up, or sometimes Isabelle doing her make up when she was over—just as much as she loved wearing sweat pants and lounging around on a Sunday afternoon. "This?" She pulled out a long sleeved mini dress, light blue and silver. It was tight and bordering on sexy, but the hem came down almost to her knees and it had a high neckline so that it was modest as well. "I mean, I don't know what kind of resturant it is, Jace isn't particularly good with details."

"I'm sure he's gonna memorize every detail of you in that dress and get off on it tonight," Magnus smirked, his lips curling cheekily as he watched her strip out of her dress from the wedding and pull on the long sleeved dress. Clary pulled the fingers at him as she arranged it, smoothing her hands over her flat stomach and down her thighs to remove any wrinkles.

"Okay," she stated after looking at herself in the mirror and satisfied with her choice. She grabbed a robe and pulled it on so her dress was safe from getting anything on it when Magnus did her make up. She sat down and on the chair in front of her desk and turned around to face Magnus, her eyes closed. He worked quickly and efficiently, wiping her face of the make up from this morning and then starting afresh. They heard Alec and Jace come home from the gym, Jace yelling out that he was going to shower because they were going to be late.

"There we go," Magnus leaned backwards and smiled at her. "Looking babe'in."

"Thanks, Mags," Clary gave him a smile, taking off the robe and tossing it toward the corner of room, spraying on some perfume and grabbing a pair of shoes from her wardrobe.

"I'm almost ready!" Jace shouted from across the hall and Clary rolled her eyes.

"I love how this is _his_ work dinner, and he's the one who's going to be late," she muttered.

"Men," Magnus sympathized. A few minutes later, Jace came out of his room and came over to her door. He blinked as his golden eyes swept over her, his lips tipping upwards in the corners before he reached out a hand for her.

"You're gorgeous," he told her earnestly.

"Why thank you," Clary smiled at him as she took his hand, the warmth of his skin in hers comforting and familiar. "Not so bad yourself."

"For a hobo?" Jace joked lightly as she moved to stand in front of him.

"For a hobo," she grinned at him, squeezing his fingers. Jace stared down at her, maybe a fraction longer than he should have, but he couldn't help that she looked absolutely beautiful and she smelt so good, and then he lifted his eyes to look at Magnus over her shoulder. Their friend was regarding them with a raised eyebrow and a knowing expression on his face as he watched the pair.

"You kids have fun," he whistled out as he skipped past them and out of the room.

"You ready?" Jace asked.

"Sure thing," Clary grabbed her phone and her wallet, which were on the top of the set of drawers beside her door and let Jace lead her out. They walked down the hallway, calling out goodbyes to their friends and headed out the door. "So where's the dinner? You really didn't give me much to work with, so I don't know if I'm dressed right."

"You're dressed perfect," Jace tightened his grip on her hand, which he still hadn't released. Clary glanced him up and down, taking in the suit pants and the light purple button down shirt that he was wearing, tucked into his pants. His blonde hair was still damp, brushed backwards from his face and almost reaching his collar. He was dressed nicely, with the usual touch of underlying defiance with the two hoops in one of his ears and his tattoo inching up his neck. She bit down on her lip and ducked her head, dropping her gaze. They took the elevator down to the ground floor of their apartment building and walked out onto the busy street.

"You didn't answer my question," Clary said to him as they reached the curb and Jace held up his arm to flag down a taxi. "Where are we going?"

"Uh, _Kings Court_ ," he told her as a taxi pulled over. Jace opened the door for her, letting go of her hand so that she could slide inside and he gave their destination to the driver. "I'm pretty sure we will be able to get out of there after two hours? Three tops?"

"Sweet," Clary grinned. "And then you wanna pick up sundaes from _Lucky's_? I mean, I'm sure _Kings Court_ is nice and all, but nothing beats sundaes from _Lucky's._ " Jace grinned as he slumped back in the seat, spreading his knees to make room for his long legs. "We could split a triple chocolate one? With extra sauce?"

"And that's why I go with _you_ to these stupid work things," he stated, reaching out to tug at a strand of hair that was falling against her cheek. "You're the one that gets me." Clary laughed, tilting her head to the side, into his touch.

 _Happier authors note! I promise! A lot of people keep recommending_ War of Hearts _by Ruelle in the reviews. I do love Ruelle, and I love that song, although it's not my favourite by her. Thought that I would just recommend it though, since obviously lots of you guys love it! Other ones that I'm in love with at the moment_ Ritual _by Adam Jensen and_ Rust _by Stalgia. Also a cover of Justin Bieber's_ Sorry _by Our Last Night._

 _Let me know what you guys are listening to! I want to know!_

 _Also, there's been a few more questions about my updating schedule. It's on my profile, people. Check it out._

 _Leave a review, make my day, and I'll send you a preview :) xx_


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm so glad you've enjoyed the first two chapters! Thanks for your support :)_

"Alec. If you weren't gay, I would offer you a life time of blow jobs to just keep feeding me like this," Clary moaned out reverently as she chewed on the mouthful of ciabatta bread, egg and seasonings that Alec had used to make his weekly Sunday brunch for them all, Eggs Benedict by popular choice. Alec snorted from where he was sitting opposite her, shrugging as he finished his mouthful.

"Well, ya know," he wiggled his eyebrows. "If I close my eyes and think of Magnus, I'm sure I would enjoy them. Blow jobs are blow jobs after all. I'd be crazy to pass up a life time of them."

"My man," Magnus smirked as he drank some of his juice. "Such a romantic."

"You mean a opportunity taker," Alec corrected as he reached over to kiss the Indonesian man on the cheek. "As if you would ever turn down a life time of blow jobs."

"Who turned down a life time of blow jobs?" Simon asked blearily from where he was stumbling down the hallway, his hair a complete mess and standing up in every direction and a tired looking Isabelle right behind him. A dirty look crossed Alec's face as he took in the very obvious sexed up expressions on their faces and the red marks on his sisters neck. Clary and Jace exchanged looks and let out snorts before shoveling more food into their mouths.

"Have you got a show today?" Isabelle asked Magnus as she reached over her brothers shoulder and stole a piece of bacon off his plate.

"Bitch," he growled at her, swatting at her hand.

"Asshole," she joked back, her voice playful as she leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek, looking back over at Magnus. "So when are you off?"

"I need to be at the shoot at two," Magnus pouted as he looked over up at the clock above the oven. It was a little after eleven, which meant that Magnus was going to be leaving pretty soon. "Why's that?"

"It's on the way to my place, right?" Isabelle asked as she started dishing up her and Simon breakfast. Magnus nodded confirmation. "Me and Simon are heading back this afternoon, we can share a cab?"

"Sounds good, babe," Magnus flashed a smile before focusing back on his food. Clary was ignoring the conversation around her, eating so quickly that she was almost about to finish before any of the boys did. Jace's foot found hers under the table, tapping against her ankle playfully and she looked across the table at him, raising an eyebrow pointedly. Jace knocked his foot against hers again and she rolled her eyes with a grin, kicking lightly back at him. He tried to be subtle as he responded to something that Simon asked, but his foot still rubbed back against hers.

Clary tried to ignore the warm feeling that traveled over her skin.

Just like she tried to ignore a lot of things when it came to Jace.

"Do you guys have any plans the rest of the day?" Isabelle asked as she sat down on Simon's lap and started eating her food, looking between Clary, Jace and Alec.

"Oh yeah," Clary nodded. "Big plans."

"Huge, in fact," Jace added.

"One might even describe them as massive," Alec smirked.

"So you're going to sit around here, watching TV, and not getting changed out of pyjamas and into actual clothes?" Isabelle interpreted as she looked between the three of them.

"Fuck yeah!" Jace cheered with a grin, leaning across the table to high five Clary and then fist bump Alec. Isabelle snorted and rolled her eyes. After they finished breakfast, Clary and Isabelle cleared the table and started doing the dishes, Jace and Alec began cleaning the rest of the kitchen while Simon and Magnus started tidying the lounge. When they had first moved in together, they had a cleaning and a cooking roster. They had adhered to it for about all of two weeks before they just fell into their own routine. They had all known each other for so long, they managed to just work around each other.

Besides, there was no point in having a cooking roster when the only two that could make a halfway decent meal was Alec and Jace, and almost every night they had leftovers from the restaurant that Alec worked at.

"I need to go and start getting ready," Magnus announced around twelve. He kissed Alec on the cheek and disappeared down the hallway. It didn't matter that he didn't need to be at the fashion show until two; it took him almost an hour to get ready, and then it could take an hour to get across town in midday traffic.

"Okay, so I'm thinking that these fuckers are gonna be gone in about fifteen minutes," Jace's tone was hushed as he walked over to where Alec and Clary were standing in the kitchen, Clary sitting on the table and swinging her legs and Alec was looking through the fridge, probably looking for ingredients for whatever he was going to throw together for dinner. "I've got gummy worms, two blocks of rocky-road and Dortio's. What about you?"

"Well, Izzy needed a binge session last week and I haven't been to the store since, so I've only got a few bottles of Mountain Dew left," Clary cringed. "Sorry, guys."

"Then you're fucking lucky that I know where Magnus keeps his stash," Alec smirked. "And my man always has heaps of candy hidden." Clary and Jace both raised their eyebrows at him, smirks on their faces.

"I really hope that isn't code for something," Clary wiggled her eyebrows.

"I think she means a sex thing," Jace grinned.

"Your minds are in the gutter," Alec rolled his eyes. "Although, the things I could tell you about what Magnus keeps hidden—"

"Nope!" Clary slammed her hands over her ears. "Lalalalalala! I don't want to hear."

"So mature," Jace rolled his eyes at her, but the grin on his face never left. "Anyway, we're all set, right?"

"We sure are," Clary rolled her shoulders and rubbed her hands together. "Any ideas on what we're marathoning?"

"I'm thinking we could re-watch one of the seasons of _Parks and Recreation_?" Alec suggested.

"I'm down with that," Clary nodded and glanced over to Jace, who nodded his agreement. "Sorted—"

"What are you guys all whispering about?" Isabelle asked as she came back into the room, now changed into a clean set of clothes with her hair brushed and no longer looking as though she had just been thoroughly fucked by their bespectacled flatmate.

"Nothing!" Clary quickly said, plastering a smile on her face, attempting to look innocent. Isabelle just rolled her eyes as she pulled on a pair of shoes. The three exchanged looks as Simon joined her with an overnight bag slung over his shoulder, probably spending the next few nights at his girlfriends house.

"Okay, we need to scoot!" Magnus sung out as he came down the hallway, his hair swept upwards with a couple of dark green extensions in his dark hair, matching the sparkly green eye liner that was high lighting his cat like eyes. His leather pants looked as though they were painted on and the v-neck shirt that he was wearing was practically sinful. The price of it was probably just as sinful, knowing how much money he spent on his clothes and make up. "I love you, kitten," Magnus leaned in and gave Alec a kiss on the cheek. "And I'll see you guys tomorrow—it's gonna be a late night."

"Bye, Magnus!" Chimed Jace and Clary as he swept out the door, Isabelle and Simon following closely behind him.

"Alright, let's go," Jace clapped his hands and made a break for his room. He heard Clary and Alec scrambling to their own bedrooms, and when they congregated back in the lounge, they had a pile of junk food on the coffee table.

"This works," Clary grinned as she took it in. "I'm not planning on moving for the rest of the afternoon."

"Kudos to that," Alec grabbed the remote from beside the TV and slumped back in the arm chair. The flat mates had watched _Parks and Recreation_ religiously when it had been on TV. They were all head over heels in love with Ben Wyatt, Andy Dwyer and April Ludgate. Occasionally they got annoyed by Leslie Knope, and Magnus had a puppy dog crush on Jean-Ralphio Saperstein. Alec chose the third seasons, starting from the first episode, and Jace and Clary settled on the couch with two bags lollies—courtesy of Magnus' hidden stash—between them. They shared the food and the big bottle of Mountain Dew between them over the next hour or so, before pushing away the bags and wiping their fingers on paper towels.

Clary's body felt heavy and warm, a blanket pulled over her and Jace from the back of the couch, her head resting back on the cushions of the couch. Dinner last night had been good, it wasn't the first time that she had gone with him to a work dinner and she got on with his colleagues. They had gone out for sundaes after the dinner, just like they had decided in the taxi, and had shared a massive sundae. They were both overdressed for the ice cream joint but neither of them cared. Jace had let her have a majority of the boysenberry ice cream, because it was her favorite, and she had pushed the chocolate chunks in the bowl over to his side. When they had gotten home, their flat mates were all drinking beer and watching _Zoolander_. It had been a good way to end the night, although they had all been up until about two in the morning, so she was feeling pretty tired today.

Sometime in the afternoon, Clary ended up slumped against Jace's side, and his arm that had been resting across the back of the couch dropped so that it was wrapped around her shoulders. Clary curled herself up, legs tucked underneath her, her head heavy on his chest with the blanket pulled up around her. Alec glanced over at them a few times, but he didn't say anything, eyes drifting back to the TV. What went on between the two of them wasn't exactly platonic friendships, there was a definite line being blurred, but none of flatmates mentioned anything, knowing that if either of them decided to actually make a move, it was down to the two of them, no one else.

Jace traced his fingers up and down her arm, drawing nonsensical patterns over the thin material of her singlet at her shoulder, and then down the smooth skin of her arm, to her elbow. Clary's breathing was heavy, and he could tell that she was almost asleep, her head drooping even further down her chest. He couldn't stop a smile from pulling at the corners of his lips as he began to reorganize her body. She lazily let him, stretching out her legs and then resting her head on his lap. Jace straightened out the blanket over her and then rested his fingers in her hair.

She was fast asleep in seconds.

Her lips were parted slightly, and every now and then she wiggled her nose a little.

It was adorable, and it was nothing that he hadn't seen before, and Jace felt his heart beat a bit faster in his chest.

Jace took a deep breath in through his nose, flattening his hand over her hair, forcing himself not to run his fingers through the strands, and focusing back on the TV.

 _Oh my god, so I re-watched_ What A Girl Wants _in the weekend, it came up on my Netflix. Forgot how much I loved the movie. And—holy shit—I realized it came out thirteen years ago! I feel so old. I can't even remember the amount of times I watched it when I was about twelve or thirteen. I also had a massive crush on Oliver James, it was ridiculous. But he was just such a babe! And he had a guitar and a motorbike, which was just so cool when you were a teenager ;) Haha. Oh and a couple of songs from there which I'm in love with is_ Half Life _by Duncan Sheik and_ Ride of Your Life _the cover by Oliver James._

 _Also, side note, I'm thinking about a werewolf AU. Can you tell I've been reading too much_ Teen Wolf _? Haha. But what's your thinking? Jace would be an Alpha and Clary would be human. What are your thoughts?_

 _Please leave a review, and let me know what you think :) I'll send you a preview for a review :)_


	4. Chapter 4

_A lot of you guys wanted an update! Here we go, sweethearts._

The week went by quickly, just like it always did. Jace was gone every morning by seven and got home around five or six that evening. Simon wasn't home most of the week, coming home after work on Thursday around five. Alec did the day shift at the restaurant Monday and Tuesday and was then the late night chef, often not getting home until after midnight, Wednesday and Thursday. Magnus and Clary both had different hours as well, all depending on their clients, just like they always did.

Even though they were sometimes like ships passing in the night, they always re-convened in the weekends, and they were comfortable with each other through the week whenever they actually managed to sit down with one another.

The nights that Alec worked late, he always brought home leftovers for them to heat up for dinner the following night. On Wednesday, it was only Jace and Clary home, and even though the whole lounge suite was free, they both curled up on the one couch, falling asleep after they had eaten dinner and watched a couple of hours of TV. They only woke up when Alec came home a little after midnight, exhausted and stumbling into the apartment and tripping over a chair, causing a racket.

"No work today?" Magnus asked the next day as he stopped by Clary's room and saw her lying on her stomach on her bed. Magnus was wearing a pair of loose fitting sweatpants and an extremely tight shirt that showed off his toned torso, and Clary was in a pair of leggings and a baggy shirt that she had fished out of the clean laundry, undoubtedly Alec or Jace's. Her expensive computer was in front of her, with her photo editing software open and working her way through a debutante ball that she had worked a few weeks ago.

"Nah," Clary smiled up at him, pushing her laptop away to make room for him to sit down. "Day off today because I've got not one but _two_ weddings tomorrow," she cringed. "One where I'm second photographer in the morning, and I'm in charge of doing all the before photos with the groom and his groomsman, and then I'm lead photographer at a wedding in the evening, so I'm probably not going to be home until early hours of Sunday morning."

"Sounds like fun," Magnus sympathized.

"I love my job," Clary stated with a groan. "But I'm just such a nana, I love being home and not wearing a bra by eight o'clock!" He grinned at her and she pulled a pillow toward her so that she could lay her head on it.

"Those chicks look like they have sticks up their asses," Magnus commented as he flopped down next to her, running his finger across her mouse pad and taking in the pictures on her screen. Clary looked at them and shrugged.

"Half of those girls were only there because their parents made them do it, and the other half spent most of the night puking up their dinner because they're terrified of carbs," she rolled her eyes.

"Bitches," Magnus sighed.

"Bitches," Clary agreed with a side smile. He looked through a few more of the photos before he grabbed another one of the pillows at the head of her bed, putting the lap top down on the ground. The two of them shifted around until they were laying on their backs and staring up at the ceiling. Clary had fairy lights stretched across her ceiling, something she had done when they had first moved in together because she claimed her room was too dark. She had always lived in the middle of the city, and there had been a hotel with a hideous, neon sign that flashed through her window since she was about five. The room that she had now was ten storey's up, and facing a back alley, and she said that it was too dark for her to sleep.

Nowadays, she didn't sleep with the fairy lights on very often, but she still left them there, because sometimes she turned them on.

"So how's life?" Magnus asked, linking his arm through hers.

"Pretty damn good," Clary smiled, turning her head to face him. "And you?"

"Pretty fucking good," Magnus responded.

"Always gotta one up everyone, don't you?" Clary grinned and Magnus shook his head from side to side so that his highlighted hair swished around. "You planning on putting a ring on Alec's finger anytime soon?"

"We're still young!" Magnus cried. "We've got time!"

"What's the point in wasting time if you already know that you two belong together for the rest of your lives? You know what or who that makes you happy, you should go after that—don't let it go," Clary reasoned with a smirk, nudging Magnus cheekily with her shoulder. Magnus rolled his eyes at her but there was a smile pulling on his lips. "Not that I should encourage you two getting married, because then you'll probably be too cool for the rest of us, and move out, and leave me with those two idiots."

"You love those idiots," Magnus shot back at her.

"I love _all_ you idiots," Clary fired right back at him and he laughed. They were quiet for a few minutes, listening to the music that was coming from her computer, which was now sitting on the floor. Magnus licked his tongue along his lower lip before taking in a breath, and he turned his head toward her. The look on his face told her that whatever he was about to say was serious, and she frowned a little at him. "What's wrong?" She asked quietly.

"You know what you just said?" He asked.

"What?"

"You know what or who that makes you happy, you should go after that," Magnus repeated back her sentiment. Clary's eyes hardened a little, knowing exactly what Magnus was referring to even without him expanding on his comment. Magnus saw the recognition in her eyes and he gave her a smile, raising an eyebrow. "You know who I'm talking about."

"I don't want to—"

"I know, I know, you don't want to talk about it," Magnus didn't look particularly happy.

"Well, that, and then you also promised me you wouldn't bring it up again," Clary groaned.

"Then I lied," Magnus said unabashedly. Clary sighed and tugged her arm away from Magnus, sitting up on her bed and putting the pillow on her lap, hugging it to her chest.

"Magnus, I'm serious," Clary's tone was low. She didn't look hurt or upset, just resolute, determined not to talk about it. "I don't want to talk about this. I love Jace, but he's like a—like a brother to me." It wasn't the first time she had said it, and Magnus was always surprised by how sincere she sounded when she said it. If he didn't live with her and see her and Jace interact daily, then he would believe her—land he was usually able to tell someone was lying just by someone's voice and facial expressions.

"No, honey," Magnus breathed. "You love Jon like a brother. You most definitely don't love Jace like a brother."

* * *

 _"Jon! Where are you?!" Clary pushed open the door leading into the kitchen. There were two girls leaning against the kitchen sink with three guys circled around them and grinning, watching them with leers as they drank from their red solo cups. She rolled her eyes and walked back out of the kitchen. "I'm so not helping him clean up," she muttered under her breath as she started walking up the stairs to the second floor. Their parents were out of town for the weekend, which of course meant that her brother had thrown a party and invited most of the senior class. Jonathon Fray was popular in his year and unfortunately the more popular someone was, the wilder these parties got. "I'm so not getting any sleep tonight," she muttered as she breathed in through her nose. "Jon!" She smacked the palm of her hand against the bathroom door._

 _"Fuck off!" Came a grunt from inside that didn't sound anything like her brother. Clary rolled her eyes again, and gave up, heading toward her bedroom. Her brother was two years older than her, and even though he was always more than happy for her to join in the fun of the parties, but she wasn't particularly interested in getting drunk and feeling shit for the rest of the next day._

 _"Clary?" Jace's voice was wobbly and her eyes widened as she walked into her bedroom. Her brothers friend was sitting on her bed, staring over at her, and in the dark, she could make out a bottle in his hand._

 _"Are you okay?" Clary asked, feeling the familiar rush of warmth in the pit of her stomach. She wasn't hopelessly in love with the golden haired boy like a lot of girls at their school were, but she definitely had a little bit of a crush on him. She tried to ignore it, because her and Jace were pretty good friends, and she usually hated Jonathon's friends, and she didn't want things to be awkward. Besides, she was his friends shy little sister who had never even been kissed, and Jace had clearly done more that. But sometimes she couldn't help the way he would make her feel just by smiling over at her._

 _"Had a fight with my dad before coming over," he sighed and Clary winced in sympathy. The fights between Jace and his father were well-known amongest anyone who knew Jace well. It wasn't something he advertised, but it only took seeing Jace and Stephen together one time to see the tension between them._

 _"Want to talk about it?" She asked as she came over to sit next to him. Their thighs pressed together and Clary could smell the bourbon on his breath and the cologne he was wearing._

 _"Nah," Jace shook his head and gave her a part smile. "I kinda just wanted to sit here for a while. Is that okay?" Clary nodded and nudged her shoulder against his._

 _"That's totally fine," she assured him. The room was still dark, she hadn't turned on the light when she had come in, so it came as a surprise when Jace's hand was suddenly wrapped around hers and squeezing. Clary's heart stuttered in her chest and she tried to ignore it, knowing that he was only doing it as a friendly motion. The thing was, it meant something very different to her._

 _"Shit," Jace sighed after a few moments._

 _"What's up?"_

 _"I think I should probably have some water," he said with a shaky laugh, pulling his hand away from hers and making a motion to stand up. He had clearly had a lot to drink because he was unbalanced and fell back down on the bed. Clary laughed and took the bottle of alcohol away from him, putting it on her desk so that he didn't spill it on her carpet._

 _"How about I go and get it for you?" She suggested._

 _"You're the best, Clary," Jace mumbled, leaning over a pressing a sloppy kiss to her mouth._

 _Her first kiss._

 _And sure, she had the occasional fantasy about Jace being the first one to put his mouth against hers, but it had never been like this, when he was drunk and upset._

 _Clary blinked, swallowing hard as she watched him flop down on her bed, his eyes closing. She wasn't too sure how she felt, her stomach feeling as though a thousand bats were suddenly swarming. She walked downstairs quickly, ignoring the throngs of teenagers that were flooding their house, going into the kitchen to pour a large glass of water. The two girls were still making out, but they were wearing less clothes now, and there was a larger crowd perving at them. Clary walked back upstairs, careful not to spill any water, and then stopped short at her doorway._

 _Jace._

 _And the head of the cheerleading squad, Kaelie Whitewillow, on his lap._

 _Looking as though they were more than ready to go all the way on her bed._

 _She shouldn't be surprised._

 _Jace was a ladies man, he always had been, and she was just Clary Fray, his friends little sister._

* * *

"It's better this way, Magnus," Clary told him, shrugging, careful indifference on her face. "Just trust me on that." Magnus had so much more that he wanted to say, but he saw the pleading look in her eyes and he took pity on her, dropping the subject.

 _I wanted to say a big thank you to all you beautiful reviewers. Seriously. I love writing, and the support I get from you guys encourages that love. You're the reason I write so much and so often, and am willing to try new ideas and things like that, so a massive thank you to all you guys :)_

 _Also, I wanted to say that I've loved the support your guys have had toward my new stories. If you haven't already had a look at the short synopsis, they are up on my profile. Your feedback in reviews and in the private messages have been awesome, it's great to talk about them with you guys! If you guys have any requests or anything specific you guys want to see, let me know, and I'll see if it's something that I can work in._

 _Now! Guess what? I've been married two years. What. The Fuck? I feel way to young for that. LOL. But yeah, it's our anniversary next week. So that's pretty awesome :)_

 _Other awesome things are; the TV show_ Designated Survivor _. I've been in love with Keifer Sutherland since_ 24 _, and Maggie Q is in it, and she's fucking badass, although maybe not quite as badass as in_ Nikita _. The song_ I Hate You, I Love You _by Gnash featuring Olivia O'Brien. OMG. I'm addicted. And I've been blasting the cover of_ Lean On _by Openside every time I'm in my car. I heard it live and had to download it as soon as I got home. It is FUCKING AMAZING, as you would know if we're friends on snapchat because I've sent out several of me singing along. Hahahaha._

 _As usual, leave a review, let me know what you think, recommend songs or TV shows or other fics for me to check out. A couple of nice words will go a long way with the shitty week I've had :( I'll send out a preview of the next chapter for anyone logged in :) xx_


	5. Chapter 5

_This is my last update of the year! I just wanted to say a massive thank you to all of your support you guys have shown me and reviews that you have left. I'll be back around February next year, but until then, I'm still able to be reached through here if you send me a PM, or if you wanted to add me on Facebook or Snapchat :) Also, make sure you check out the authors note at the bottom in regards to my upcoming stories._

"Yo, Jace!" Sebastian Verlac called from down the hallway, jogging to catch up with Jace. Jace slowed his pace and glanced over his shoulder to look at his work associate. "How's it going?"

"Yeah, all good," Jace flashed him a smile as the two men started walking again, side by side. Sebastian had been working at the architecture firm for a little bit longer than Jace, he had started about six months before him, but they had known each other through University as well. "You've been working on the _Hardmann_ project, right?"

"Sure have," Sebastian grimaced and Jace felt a pang of sympathy for him. The _Hardmann_ legal firm had been a project that the architecture firm had been working on for a while, and the partners who were overseeing the new layout of the two floors that were being renovated were notoriously fussy, and had changed their minds so many times now even the most patient colleague in their firm was getting frustrated. "It's okay, I think we finally have something that we've all agreed on, so hopefully this shit will be over soon."

"Sounds good," Jace gave him another smile as he stopped at his cubicle. There were only six offices on the floor, and they were all for the senior members of the firm, and the other ten workers were all in the bull pen, in cubicles. If Jace didn't get on with his other colleagues he might mind, but he didn't, because they all got on well enough. Another reason why he didn't mind is because his cubicle was right at the end, near the corner, so he managed to get away with listening his iPod most of the day and surf Facebook whenever he had any downtime.

"There's something else I wanted to talk to you about," Sebastian said, resting his arms across the wooden barrier that cordoned off Jace's cubicle.

"What's up?"

"It's my birthday this weekend," Sebastian began. "So some of us are going out for drinks and out clubbing. You and your roommates are invited."

"Oh, sounds good," Jace nodded. "Saturday night?"

"Yup," Sebastian nodded, flattening his hands on barrier and pushing away. "I'll text you."

"Sweet," Jace reached forward and tapped his password into his computer.

"Right, and by roommates, I specifically meant that hot red head that you always bring to our company dinners and who sometimes brings you lunch," Sebastian grinned, wiggling his eyebrows. Jace's hands froze over the keyboard for a split second before letting out a cough and continued opening up his email account. But even though he had recovered, Sebastian had seen the slight falter and he tilted his head to the side, his blonde hair falling over his eyes. "You guys aren't a thing, right? I mean, you've said she's just your roommate heaps of times, and haven't you've been banging Seelie from the third floor in the accounting firm?"

"We're just friends," Jace confirmed, the words tasting funny coming out, even though he's needed to make this statement multiple times over the years. Isabelle and Clary were gorgeous girls who were almost always with Jace, Alec, Magnus and Simon, and so there were always questions being dropped into conversations about whether they were dating.

"Good," Sebastian's grin widened. "Because every time you've introduced me to her I've gotten this vibe, and I think that she's pretty fucking awesome."

"You guys have only talked, like, what? Three times?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but what does that matter?" Jace was surprised that Sebastian actually looked earnest about it. "She was a total fucking babe. She's hilarious. She doesn't take shit—which is obvious every time you two are together, no offence or anything. I think that me and her could have a little something-something. She's a photographer, right?"

"Sure is," Jace's lips were a little tight in the corners.

"Like weddings and stuff?" Sebastian asked. "Chicks get ridiculous horny at weddings, right?" He said with a lewd smile settling over his face. "I always get laid when I go to weddings." Jace raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Sometimes," Jace nodded jerkily, his fingers drumming against the top of the desk. "She also does recitals, sometimes magazine shoots, proms—she likes a little bit of everything." That really wasn't the best thing to say because that made the smile on is face grow.

"I like the sound of that," that glint came back into Sebastian's dark eyes as he started backing away from the cubicle. "And so even if there's no type of relationship that comes of this, I bet she's hell of a wildcat in the sack," he winked before turning around and swaggering back to his own desk. Jace watched him go, feeling a stupid furl of jealousy in the pit of his stomach.

Clary was his friend.

One of his best friends.

Also one of his friends little sisters.

And also his roommate.

Of course he knew how she hot she was. And how funny she was, and that she was one of the only girls that he could hold a conversation with because he was interested in what she was saying, not because he wanted to sleep with her. Sure, he wanted to sleep with her, but he was never going to do that. It would alter the whole dynamic between them, because if they ever slept together then it wasn't something that they could come back from.

He was also pretty sure that if he ever slept with Clary, Simon would attempt to kick his ass. Then Alec would take over an _actually_ kick his ass. And then Magnus would. And then Isabelle would, and that would be hella scary because Isabelle frightened the living shit out of him. And finally Jonathon would fly over from where he was living and working in Seattle and kick his ass as well.

All in all, it was as terrible idea, and he had put it out of his head years ago.

Unfortunately, that terrible idea just kept crawling back in.

* * *

"Jaaaaaaaace!" Came a cheer from the couch when Jace opened the front door and he snorted when he saw Magnus, Simon, Isabelle and Clary all crowded onto one couch, squashed together and staring intently at the TV. " _Ninja Warrior_ is on!" He could hear the crazy commentary and crowds cheering coming from the plasma screen.

"This show is ridiculous," Jace snorted, even though he was already dumping his suitcase on the ground and toeing off his shoes, heading over to the other four. There was no way he was going to be able to fit on the actual couch itself, but even though there was another couch and two arm chairs, it just felt right to sit on the arm of the couch, leaning into Isabelle with an arm around her shoulder. There was a man dressed up like a tyrannosaurus rex who was taking on the course. "These are all re-runs. You all realize that, right?"

"And you've seen every episode of _The Following_ more than three times—you hear us judging you?" Clary snapped back at him with a playful smile before looking back at the screen. Jace glanced over at her, his eyes resting a beat longer than they really should have, before he looked back to the show.

Tyrannosaurus rex guy only lasted about another twenty seconds, clearing the block run and then falling off the spinning bars, drawing out disappointed sounds from the crowd on TV as well as the ones on the couch.

"Ooh!" There was a sympathetic hiss from the four on the couch and Jace snorted, shaking his head. The show paused for ads, and the attention from the TV was broken.

"How was your day?" Isabelle asked Jace, looking up at him.

"It was fine," he replied, squeezing her shoulders. "And you?"

"No work today," Isabelle let out a relieved sigh and snuggled into Jace's side, resting her head on his lap which was at the perfect height given he was on the arm of the couch. "But I've got two shows on Sunday, so I'm gonna be fucked that day."

"Ooh, you working the Estefan show?" Magnus looked over in interest.

"Yes!" Isabelle's head jerked up from Jace's lap, looking over at the Indonesian man.

"Me too!" Magnus cheered and Isabelle let out a squeal, reaching over the heads of Clary and Simon to give Magnus a high five.

"Does that mean you're not free if we've got an invite to go out on Saturday?" Jace asked the dark haired girl. "Friends birthday."

"You have friends other than us?!" Clary's expression was scandalized, her hand resting over her heart as she looked at him with wide eyes. "The fuck is this shit?!"

"Nah," Magnus smirked as he tossed a piece of popcorn from the bowl on his lap in Jace's direction. "No one else can put up with his shit like we can."

"Good, because I just don't think that I can handle that kind of betrayal," Simon put on a choked voice, sticking out his lower lip in a pout that was dorky but Isabelle clearly found cute because she leaned in and gave him a kiss.

"Yeah, yeah, you guys are fucking hilarious," Jace's voice was dry but he couldn't stop his grin. "Anyway, you guys know Sebastian?"

"Blonde Hottie?" Clary wiggled her eyebrows purposefully at Isabelle who grinned back. "He's the one I told you about, who always gives me those fuck-me eyes when I go and see Jace at work or at those company dinners."

"Yeah, that one," Jace didn't particularly like that description, but quickly continued. "It's his birthday, and he's going out for clubbing and shit. He invited me and asked if you guys wanted to come along." Isabelle scrunched up her nose and tilted her head to the side.

"Ooh, I don't know," she said hesitantly. "I need to be at my first show just after eleven."

"We could get you home by three," Magnus wheedled. "Shovel a shit tonne of water and energy drinks into you and load you up with greasy food in the morning before sending you on your way? You know that we've done that a hundred times before."

"When we were in University and I was twenty-one!" Isabelle protested with a laugh.

"You saying that you're too old?" Simon poked her in the side.

"Fine!" Isabelle rolled her eyes at them. "I'm in."

"And me!" Simon piped up.

"You know you can count me in, I'm always down for a night out," Magnus grinned. "And I'll drag Alexander along." Clary still hadn't said anything and all eyes turned toward the red head, who was chewing on a licorice stick. Jace tried not to pay attention to the way that the long, red candy had stained her mouth even brighter red and how stick was rolling between her plump lips. "C'mon, biscuit. You never go out."

"I go out all the time!" She protested.

"You go out to _other_ peoples events!" Simon stated.

"This is Sebastian's birthday. Wouldn't that be another persons event?" Clary giggled, but she was just grasping at straws now.

"Come out with us," Isabelle made a pathetic looking face at her friend. "You said the guy was hot," she wheedled. "It could be fun." Jace was glad none of the attention was on him when that was said, because he knew that his lips turned downwards at the corners. "Please?" Clary rolled her eyes and dropped her head back against the cushion of the couch.

"Fine," she groaned out. "I'll come."

 _Now, something that I wanted to ask everyone, is if you can all check out the upcoming stories on my profile, and let me know what your top three picks would be? Just so I have an idea of the ones that people are looking forward to and can focus on those :)_

 _The things that I'm into at the moment are Charles/Erik from_ X-Men _, the reboot trilogy, with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy. Holy shit. So beautiful. Completely obsessed. And then it's like I've become re-obsessed with Derek/Stiles from_ Teen Wolf. _The songs I've had on replay are_ Can't Fight This Feeling _by Justin Timberlake, which I know has been completely overplayed, but it's just such a happy song, I'm totally in love! And the second one is_ Last Night On Earth _by Delta Goodrem, which is just so sweet. And the last one is_ Give It Up To Me _by Sean Paul and Keyshia Cole, an old one._

 _Right! So, I'll be back next year, pretties :) Until then, one last review? Pretty please? And I'll send out a preview :)_

 _Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to you all :) xxx_


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay! So I'm back! And I'm back early, you may notice! I was planning to update until next week but I've had so many reviews and messages on here and on Facebook asking for me to post earlier, so here we go! Uh, I've also had a lot of people asking why I decided to take a break for a while—almost two months! Holy shit! I'll keep it brief so you can get on with reading...1) Life! Real life always comes first and it's been super busy. 2) Health. This definitely comes into the 'real life' category, but something that some of you will know is I deal with some insane headaches and migraines on an almost weekly basis and at times work is draining enough, I can't come home and sit in front of my computer and type/edit. 3) Response. So many of you guys are incredible. FUCKING INCREDIBLE. But that doesn't discount the occasional nasty review or message which really hits home when I spend so much time pouring my heart into these stories :(_

 _Anyway, on with the story!_

"Uh, this is Stacey, Rhys, Martin, George and Seelie," Jace ticked off the people who were all crowded around the booth. Seelie Queen gave him a look from underneath hooded eyelids, and he gave her a quick smile before looking back toward his friends. His fling with her wasn't anything serious, it was just an every now and again occurrence that happened because they worked pretty close together and finished around the same time. She lived in an apartment not too far from work, so they would go to her place occasionally, fool around, get off, and then he would head home.

It wasn't something that he wanted to get into tonight, because despite how close he was with his roommates, he tried to keep his sex life separate. Mainly because it wasn't anything important.

"And of course, this is Sebastian," Jace finished his introductions. "And this is Magnus, Alec and Simon." Everyone exchanged hello's and then Magnus held up his hand, waving down one of the waiters and ordered himself and Alec a drink.

"So you work with all of them?" Simon asked as he looked at the group who were talking and laughing among themselves.

"All of them except George and Seelie. George was Sebastian's roommate when we were in college, and Seelie works a few floors below ours," Jace replied. "Hey, when are the girls getting here?"

"They won't be too long," Simon said. "They're getting ready at Izzy's."

"You know our girls," Magnus smirked as his drink was brought over, a cocktail that had a blue umbrella stuck in it. "They won't come out until they look perfect."

"So then what the hell are you on about ' _they won't be too long_ '?" Jace rolled his eyes at Simon who just gave him a cocky smile in response and nodded over Jace's shoulder toward the entrance of the club. Jace turned around and saw the girls all coming through the front door. They were in a group, talking and laughing among themselves, although Jace could only properly see Isabelle and Helen Blackthorn, he could only see the tops of the heads of Clary and Aline Penhallow. There were people crowding all around them, and Isabelle started looking around for her friends in the busy club.

"Hey, let's get a round of shots!" Rhys Collins announced. "Tequila for everyone!" He did a quick headcount. "Ten of us, right?"

"Uh, make it fourteen," Jace said and Sebastian looked in the direction that Jace was now facing. Alec lifted his hand and waved it at them, glad that his height and their place on a slight platform made it easier for the girls to see them. Isabelle saw them and grinned and waved and then turned to tell the rest of her friends where they were going. As they started making their over, Clary came into view and Jace's lips parted in appreciation.

"Fuck, man," Sebastian voice was right in Jace's ear. "Now that's all the birthday present I need."

"Hey! She actually wore the dress that I picked out!" Magnus sounded proud as he took in the tight black and green bandage dress that Clary was wearing. Jace's breath caught in his throat and he was simultaneously insanely appreciative and ridiculously angry at Magnus' choice. Because Clary looked positively edible, and while it was going to provide him with enough images to jack off to for the next few years, he also couldn't do anything about it.

But Sebastian could.

And from the way he was practically drooling, he probably would.

The green and black material was wrapped in strips around her body, little gaps in the fabric at her sides, over her cleavage and a few spots in her back, teasing the world with glimpses at the smooth skin underneath. The hem of the dress barely passed her ass, her long legs stretching on until they were tucked into some high heels that were undoubtedly borrowed from Isabelle. Her hair was tossed and curled, some of it pinned up, some of it loose, and her make up was heavy around her eyes—highlighted dark and green—and then there was something glittery accentuating her cheekbones, and her lips were glossy.

"Hey, ladies!" Sebastian seemed to recover a lot quicker than Jace, because he was grinning and thrusting out his hand. "I'm Sebastian, the birthday boy." Isabelle smirked at him, shaking his hand once before floating past and pressing her lips hard against Simon's mouth. Jace made introductions again, although his voice sounded a little strained because Sebastian had already started flirting up a storm with Clary, and she was grinning back at him.

"So you two are engaged?" George Clemmons asked, waving his hand between Aline and Helen.

"Sure am," Aline lifted up her left hand and wiggled her fingers, the diamond catching the blue and green and pink spotlights that were swirling around the club.

"And you two are obviously together?" George nodded over at Isabelle and Simon, who grinned and nodded back. "And it looks as though Seb has his sights set on the hot red head."

"All the good ones are always taken," Rhys pouted.

"Well, I bet that you'll be able to find some girl out there who's willing to take pity on you and let you take her home for the night," Jace smirked over at him, feeling ten times better when Clary and Sebastian walked over to properly join them, and Clary slid her arm around Jace's waist, giving it a squeeze. "You look hot," he told her, dropping his mouth to her ear so that she could hear him over the music.

"I know," was her simple reply and he laughed and shook his head. When she dropped her arm from around his waist to go and stand between Helen and Simon, he instantly missed the pressure, and covered it up by asking what everyone wanted for their next round of drinks, hailing down a waiter.

It had been a long time since they had all gone out together like this. Sure, they all hung out at the flat together, or sometimes they went out for dinner at a diner that was around the corner from their apartment, but it had been a while since they had gone out drinking. Alec, true to form, remained relatively sober. Magnus did everything he could to make him open up and finally managed to drag him out onto the dance floor, which pretty much consisted of Alec standing there, bobbing up and down awkwardly, while Magnus ground up against him. Simon and Isabelle joined them on the dance floor not too long after, and Helen and Aline had found a dark corner and were making out as though they were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship and not three years in. Jace knew that they were meant to be there with Sebastian and the rest of his birthday party, but he was paying pretty much no attention to the rest of them, much to Seelie's dismay.

"C'mon, Jace!" Clary threw back the rest of her Harvey Wallbanger, her fourth or fifth one for the night, and reached out to grab his hand. "Let's dance!" Jace laughed and let him drag her out onto the dance floor. He wasn't a fan of dancing, but unlike Alec, he actually _could_ dance. Clary's fingers slid through his as she pulled him after her, and they joined their other friends. Alec looked relieved when he saw him, although he couldn't claim he wasn't having any fun, because his hair was all ruffled and his lips looked swollen from Magnus' attention.

"Yay!" Isabelle squealed as Clary bumped her hip against her friends, alerting her to their presence. The two girls moved against each other for a few minutes, Jace dancing beside Clary and shouting to Alec over the music. Even though he wasn't a big fan of dancing, after a few drinks his inhibitions faded a lot, just like everyone elses. So the beat of the music drummed through his skin and his pulse was quick as he let his body gyrate and his hands twitch in time with the song. Isabelle and Simon were then kissing, and Isabelle was doing a filthy body roll that would have turned Jace on if Isabelle wasn't like a sister to him. Magnus seemed to take Isabelle's queue and he wrapped himself around Alec, leaning in close to whisper things that was making the dark haired man blush. That left Clary and Jace, and she turned around to face, putting her arms easily around his neck.

They had danced together a hundred times.

They had done the whole slow dance thing when Jace had gone with her to her graduation ball when finishing University; they had done the stupid, joking dance at Simon's mum's wedding; and they had done the sexy, whole-body-touching dance when they were at parties or clubbing.

While Jace had known her pretty much since he was thirteen, they didn't really become close until she had started at the same University that he was going to. In high school, his life had all been basketball and the cheerleading squad. Clary had just been the little sister of one of his teammates, and they had ran in completely different circles. He remembered thinking that she was cute and funny, and there had been a few drunken moments when he had looked at her in way he shouldn't have, but it was when she was nineteen and he was twenty-one that they properly became friends.

"You having a good time?" Jace asked her, leaning down so that their faces were close together. Clary met his gaze, her green eyes glowing and he could smell a mixture of the sweet alcohol on her breath and the smell of expensive perfume she had gotten from Isabelle for Christmas last year.

"I am," Clary smiled up at him, and her eyes dropped to his mouth before they quickly slid to the side. Jace felt a stab of heat in his stomach at the movement, because he knew that look, he knew what it meant. He swallowed hard and his fingers tightened a little on her hips. She swiveled her body against his, and one of his hands moved to rest at the small of her back. They were silent for the next three songs, dancing and moving their bodies in sync with each other. Jace tried not to think about how well their bodies fit, and also ignore the way her hips kept rolling purposefully against his groin, when there was a tap on his shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" Sebastian grinned and gave him a pointed look. Jace felt that angry heat rising from his centre, and it was even more so when Clary let go of where she was holding his neck and smiled at Sebastian.

"Sounds good," Clary leaned forward and put her hands on Sebastian's arms. The way she shifted to stand next to him wasn't quite as comfortable as it was with Jace, but they started talking, and Sebastian moved in closer to her so that they could talk over the music. Clary seemed to open up to him easily and they were laughing and speaking, and he looped an arm around her waist and aligned their hips, bringing them in so that they were practically sharing one anothers breath.

Jace closed his hand into a fist at one side, and Isabelle caught his expression and looked as though she was going to pull away from Simon and come over to her, but then there was a hand on his shoulder.

Seelie.

"Want to dance?" She asked with a smile and a flutter of her eyelashes. Jace was tempted to say no, but it would just make it obvious if he walked off the dance floor and left their friends behind. So he forced a smile and let Seelie sidle up next to him. He focused on the blonde in front of him, and then also laughing at Alec's discomfort as time went by and Magnus had thrown back a few more shots so that he was becoming even more showy. He had almost forgotten about Clary and Sebastian, until he saw Clary lean in to say something to Isabelle and Isabelle smirked and gave her a thumbs up.

He watched with a sick twist in his stomach as Sebastian took her hand, and the two of them disappeared in the crowd, heading in the direction of the door of the club.

 _Right! So...How was it?_

 _I've got lots of recommendations I want to make coz I've been away for so long, but I'll just throw a couple out there. Movies—_ Moana _! It was amazing. So was_ Rogue One _, which I didn't expect to like because I'm not a big fan of Felicity Jones, but it was incredible, and Diego Luna is my new love. And a couple of songs I'm in love with at the moment are_ Falling For You _by Lyon Hart and_ Dangerously _by Charlie Puth._

 _Alright, so, tell me...Did you guys all have an amazing Christmas/New Years? Me and my hubby always travel for Christmas to see extended family, but it was just a quiet one at home with a couple of his family members, so that was nice. And for New Years we rented out a house by the beach with a couple of our close friends, so that was amazing._

 _Tell me what you guys got up to, and leave a review._

 _And if you guys want a preview of the next chapter, just ask, and I'll throw one out there ;) Don't forget to check out the new multi-chapter stories, which you guys all voted on, as well as a bunch of new oneshots I've written. I've gone and put some of them up :)_


	7. Chapter 7

_Next chapter! I apologize for any mistakes made, my editing was a little rushed on this one._

Clary didn't get home until after lunch time the next day. Isabelle had already left a few hours earlier because she had needed to get to the fashion shoot where she needed to do the make up for numerous models. She didn't look particularly good when she had left, still a little pale with her eyes glassy, but she had been determind to recover and there wasn't much that Isabelle couldn't acheive when she put her mind to it. Jace woke up around ten, which was pretty early for him after a night out, but he had stopped drinking after Clary and Sebastian had left, and so he wasn't feeling too bad this morning.

Well, aside from the fact that he was checking the time on his phone every few minutes, counting down the time until Clary walked through the front door.

It wasn't as if she had never had a one night stand.

Shit, they had all had relationships, both serious and not serious, since they had been living together. Magnus had been quite the hussy before he and Alec ended up together, and although Simon was the most awkward out of all of them, he had even managed to charm a few girls with his bumbling ways into his bedroom.

It's just that it felt a little different this time, given he had something to do with her and Sebastian to get together. He had invited her at his work colleagues request, after the blonde had blatantly said that he was interested in getting into her panties.

"Ayyyye!" Simon let out an obnoxious cheer when the front door opened and Clary walked through. She was still wearing her dress from last night, but she had a white button down shirt over the top which was most definitely not hers, so probably Sebastian's. Clary rolled her eyes at them, but there was a small smile on her face as she took off the high heels that she was still wearing. Her face was scrubbed free of make up and her hair was pulled back in a bun on top of her head, a little damp, as though she had had a shower not too long ago.

"And there she is!"

"Back from a night sluttin it up!"

"It was the dress, I _told_ you that dress was a home run!"

"Okay, okay, okay," Clary laughed as the boys—minus Jace—all started yelling at her. Her cheeks were a little bit red and she ducked her head and tugged at a loose strand of hair. "I'm just gonna get changed—"

"Hold up!" Magnus leapt up from where he was on the couch. "How was it? How was he?" He was wearing a lewd grin.

"Oh my god, are you serious?!" Clary snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, this is the first time in forever that you've gone out and done this. You were well overdue for there to be something between your legs that wasn't your own hand," Magnus teased her and Clary rolled her eyes again, her cheeks reddening even more. Her eyes shifted between her roommates, resting on Jace for only a split second before moving back to Magnus. "It was the dress, wasn't it? I knew I could get you laid if you wore that dress."

"Oh you, hm? Put it all on the dress and not my womanly wiles," Clary laughed.

"Yeah, well, that might have had something to do with it," Magnus flapped his hand to side off-handedly.

"So is this like a one time thing or are you planning on going back for some more?" Simon had clearly decided that he was getting in on the gossip as well, turning sideways in the arm chair that he was in and resting his elbows on the arm, grinning up at her.

"I don't know," Clary shrugged. "It's not like we did all that much talking."

"That's my girl," Magnus smirked and held up a hand for a high five. It looked as though Clary was going to leave him hanging but then she let out a giggle and slapped her hand against his. Jace pursed his lips, looking back at the TV and trying to stop himself from outwardly reacting to the way she was grinning and her skin was glowing.

This wasn't the first time she had had a one night stand, he kept telling himself. He had even joined in the teasing and joking around with the other boys, so that was what he forced himself to do now.

"You know, Magnus was right about the dress," he hoped that his voice didn't sound as forced as it felt in his throat. "It was definitely a big part of it."

"And here I was thinking that you would be the one person on my side," Clary looked a little relieved that he was joining in.

"You're forgetting that I saw you in that dress," he teased. "I saw what wonders it did for you."

"Thank you," Magnus grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. Clary looked between them before letting out a playful huff.

"Okay, well, _thank you_ so much for getting me laid not once, not twice, but three times, Magnus," she said with an exagerated tone. "I appreciate your interference in my sex life." Magnus gave a humble nod of his head.

"You're most welcome, biscuit," he hummed out at her before flouncing over to where he had been sitting in the loveseat with Alec. The two of them curled back around each other, going back to watching TV, although that didn't stop Magnus from shooting Clary cheeky smiles and Alec glancing at Jace every few minutes. Clary went into the kitchen, pouring herself a drink of juice and then emptying it in a few mouthfuls. Her fingers were playing with the hem of the shirt she was wearing, and she couldn't stop smiling.

Magnus had been right.

It had been a long time since she had gotten laid.

She forgot how good it felt the day after.

All laxed and sated, a bit out of her head.

She was glad that she had nowhere she needed to be today, because she just wanted to mope around and enjoy the heaviness in her bones.

What she had said to the boys was right, her and Sebastian hadn't discussed whether or not they were going to see each other again. And to be totally honest, she wouldn't mind either way. She wasn't looking for any type of relationship right now, and it was a little bit complicated given Sebastian worked with Jace, but maybe a few more times wouldn't hurt anyone.

Clary padded down the hallway toward her room. She pulled off the button down shirt that she was wearing and then her dress and her lingerie, dropping them into the laundry basket in the corner of the room. She pulled her robe off the corner of her wardrobe door and slung it on as she walked across the hallway to the bathroom. She had already had a shower this morning, but that hadn't really been about _getting clean._ A smile tugged at the corners of Clary's lips as she thought back to the rendezvous that her and Sebastian had had in the narrow shower cubicle at his own flat. She pulled out two dry towels from the stack in the cupboard behind the door and waited for the shower to heat up before stepping inside and pulling the curtain across.

She was completely lost in washing herself down with her lavender body wash and jumped and almost skidded over onto her ass when she lost her footing momentarily on the wet tiling of the shower when a voice sounded behind the curtain.

"Hey, Clare Bear," Simon sounded as though he was laughing at her, hearing her fumble inside the shower. "You good there?"

"What the fuck are you doing in here, Si?" Clary pulled back the curtain just enough so that she could poke her head around and glare at him. He was sitting on the closed toilet seat, facing the wall opposite him, at least not staring directly at the shower. "We're not kids anymore, we can't just have these conversations in the bathroom."

"Don't see why not," Simon joked, glancing in her direction. "Nothing I haven't seen before."

"Jesus," Clary rolled her eyes and settled back into the shower, assuming that Simon wasn't going to leave her alone until he had said whatever it was he needed to say. She began massaging her shampoo into her hair when Simon started talking again.

"Jace didn't seem all that happy after you left last night," he commented.

"He seemed absolutely fine with his blonde," Clary kept her tone airy and light although she felt a twinge of regret. There was no point in getting upset about something that she couldn't change, and also something that was no ones fault. Her and Jace had some kind of chemistry that was more than friends but neither of them were ever going to take that step, and so they both needed to enjoy the things that they couldn't give each other.

"You know...I was the only one who knew about that thing you had for him back in high school," Simon's voice was a bit softer now, and Clary had to strain to hear him over the falling of the shower spray.

"That's because you were the only one that I trusted," Clary shot back.

"And I always said that you were so much better than him, and you deserved better?" Simon reminded her. Clary bit back a smile as she remember pimply faced Simon grumbling about the crush that his friend had on the good looking jock.

"I always that was because you had a crush on me," she teased him.

"Yeah, well, maybe that was part of the reason," Simon admitted with a rueful laugh, and she could imagine him scrunching up his nose a little like he did when he was embarrassed. "But he was also kind of a dick back in high school." Clary licked her lips, not answering as she stared down at the sudsy water being swallowed up by the drain next to her feet. "He's not like that anymore, though."

"Simon," she stopped him there, reaching out to turn off the shower, indicating that he was going to need to vacate the bathroom sooner rather than later. "Please...I don't want to have this conversation." Simon sighed audibly from where he was sitting, but when she peaked around the corner of the curtain, he had left.

 _Happy Valentines day to you, beautiful people! My song recommendations this time are_ Wild Things _by Alessia Cara. Pretty much anything by her actually, a massive thank you to my babe reppinda5o3 for making me listen to her in the first place. Then there's_ Paris _by Chainsmokers, and_ Please Don't Go _by Joel Adams. All songs I'm obsessed with at the moment._

 _Something that I forgot to make mention of in my last update—and I can't believe I forgot because I was a total mess when it happened—was Carrie Fisher :( OMG. It was so horrible to hear about her passing, and then her mother. My heart goes out to their family._ Star Wars _and Princess Leia will always hold such a special place in my heart xx_

 _Please leave a review, let me know what you guys think! If you're logged in and you ask, I'll send out a preview :) xx_


	8. Chapter 8

_Next chapter! Oh and the wedding cake they talk about in this chapter is the cake we had at my wedding ;) It was to die for._

"I think that maybe I should be looking at moving out," Isabelle stated as she stabbed at scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Really? Why?" Clary crinkled up her nose as she cut into the sandwich she had ordered that was ridiculously tall and almost toppling off her plate. "Did Aline and Helen say something to you?"

"No, no, of course not. They would never do that," Isabelle chewed her mouthful and then settled back in her seat. "It's just...Well, _you know_ , they're getting married and everything, and you shouldn't have flatmates after you're married. I totally get that it's not like anything is actually _changing_ , I mean they've been living together for years and been in love for as long as we can remember, but still, they're getting _married_. It's a big step and I think that they should be able to have their own space."

"Okay, I get that," Clary nodded as she bit into her sandwich. "So have you got any idea of what you're going to do?"

"Not yet," Isabelle shrugged, inspecting her fingernails, which were painted a sparkling dark colour. "I mean, if me and Simon had been dating for longer, then I would mention moving in together with him, but I just think that it's to soon, you know? Sure we've known each other forever, but we've only been dating for a few months, and I'm just not ready for that yet."

"That's understandable," Clary said as she picked up her orange juice.

"Why? Do you think he'll be upset if I move in with someone else—or into my own place—and don't ask him?" Isabelle looked concerned and Clary pursed her lips as she thought.

"Nah, I don't think so," she tilted her head to the side. "I mean, he's head over heels for you and all, and I think that he would probably say yes if you asked him to get a place with you, but maybe it's a good idea to stay separate for a little bit longer? Not that I would know anything about the best way to handle long term relationships and all the shit that comes along with it," she shrugged.

"Honey, I hate to break this to you, but you kind of are in a long term relationship, whether you think so or not," Isabelle gave her a pointed look from underneath her long eyelashes and Clary just made a huffing noise under her breath as she ate some more of her sandwich, rolling her eyes. Isabelle bit back her mutter of annoyance, because it didn't matter how many times her or any of Clary's other friends mentioned the strange friendship-relationship between Jace and Clary, the two of them remained oblivious, whether that was purposeful or not. "So have you talked to Sebastian since your little rendezvous the other weekend?" Clary's posture relaxed a little and she grinned.

"Yeah, we've text a bit. Nothing serious, we're not planning on meeting up any time soon...At least I don't think so," she scrunched up her nose. "I don't know. I mean, I don't really want anything from him, you know?"

"Not even sex?" Isabelle laughed.

"Oh, well, maybe sex," Clary grinned. "The sex was pretty good."

"On a scale of one to ten?"

"Like a seven? But I could just be rating him that high because it's been forever since I've gotten laid," she pointed out.

"That's true," Isabelle agreed with another laugh. "There's nothing wrong with having someone just set up as a booty call. I mean, it's always better when it's someone that you're sleeping with more than once. And not as in a relationship, it's just when it's someone that knows what you like, then it can be better than a random one night stand."

"Yeah, I guess," Clary tilted her head to the side. "Maybe," she ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at the ends and swirling them around her fingers. "But, I mean, if something started between us, wouldn't we need to have that awkward talk about 'yeah, I'm just there for your body, I'm most definitely not here for your personality'?" Isabelle snorted and shook her head.

"I doubt that highly, babe," Isabelle said. "He's a guy—and he doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who's after a relationship." Clary was quiet for a moment and Isabelle watched her carefully. "Unless there's some other reason about why you don't want to get involved with him..." she attempted to keep her voice casual, but Clary's eyebrows pulled together a little and she shot a look over the table. Isabelle shrugged and gave her an innocent, wide eyed look.

" _Anyway_ ," Clary dragged out the word, purposefully changing the direction of the conversation. "Away from my love life, or lack thereof, and back to the whole thing about you moving out; have you talked to Aline and Helen about it yet? I mean, they're putting quite a lot of money into the wedding. Maybe they haven't said anything to you about moving out or them getting their own place because they can't afford it, at least not just yet." Isabelle didn't look as though she had thought of that and a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised. "That's just a thought, I don't know. I might just be saying that because I've seen how much money some people spend on their weddings and it's absolutely fucking ridiculous. I would be spending the rest of the my life paying off some of these loans."

"I think Helen and Aline are smarter than some of those people," Isabelle pointed out.

"Yeah, although have you seen the size of their cake?" Clary snorted.

"Helen comes from a big family," Isabelle said.

"I'm so glad I'm going to be able to eat cake at this wedding. You have no idea how horrible it is to photograph all of these amazing cakes and never get to eat any of the," Clary pouted.

"If you had one slice of cake for every wedding you went to, then you would never be able to fit into those skinny jeans you're wearing," Isabelle smirked at her and pointed at the painted on jeans Magnus had told her time and time again made her ass look amazing.

"It's chocolate, right?" Clary asked.

"Chocolate raspberry triple layered cake with white chocolate ganache filling and fresh raspberries and chocolate shavings as garnish with a side of raspberry syrup," Isabelle recited, someone who had clearly been listening to wedding plans for every waking moment that she was at home.

"That sounds orgasmic," Clary grinned and Isabelle nodded her head rapidly and then let out a pathetic groan.

"Yeah, but it's not even fair that I have to listen to them planning the menu's and shit, and then revising them every second show, and then have to eat peanuts for breakfast because I'm going to a fashion shoot that afternoon with a bunch of size negative models who give me a complex," Isabelle grumbled.

"Oh, get off it," Clary rolled her eyes. "You're fucking gorgeous, and you look a hundred times better than those stick figures who you make look all fancy."

"Thanks, babe," Isabelle stuck out her tongue at her red headed friend. "Anyway, uh, I was kind of thinking that maybe me and you could make something work." Clary frowned as she finally finished off her sandwich and pushed her empty plate away, sucking on the straw in her glass of orange juice. "Like, maybe you and me could move in together."

"You want me to ditch the boys?" Clary raised an eyebrow, not expecting Isabelle to suggest that.

"I'm just wondering what you think of the idea," Isabelle said, looking down at the top of the table, running her long, painted nails over the surface. "Just something to think about." Clary had never thought that she was going to live with the boys forever—she was actually just waiting for the day when Alec and Magnus announced the day that they were going to move out so that it was just the two of them, sort of like Aline and Helen. But she really hadn't thought much about moving out. "I'm not expecting an answer now!" She quickly rushed on. "Just...Think about it."

"Yeah, I will," Clary went back to playing with her hair. "How soon do you want an answer?"

"Well, the wedding is in six weeks," Isabelle murmured. "And their honeymoon is for two weeks. I mean, I might not move out right away, but I was thinking maybe I'll talk to them about it in a few weeks? They can totally afford the place on their own, money's not an issue for them unless they've gone _way_ over budget on the wedding, but they might want to find a new place."

"Would you want to stay there if they want to find a new place?" Clary asked.

"Maybe," Isabelle shrugged again. "Like I said, I've just sort of been thinking about it. I don't really know anything certain yet." Clary nodded and then Isabelle picked up her phone and check the time. "Shit, uh, I really need to go. I've got a wedding where I'm doing the bride, her four bridesmaids _plus_ the mother-in-law."

"Sounds like hell," Clary sympathized with a smirk, very aware of the emotionally draining afternoon that Isabelle was going to go through because it was very similar to what she had to go through when she was the photographer at weddings. "Anyway, you go and have fun, and I promise to let you know after I've thought about things."

"Sweet. I'll see you around, baby cakes," Isabelle got up from the table, reaching down to kiss Clary on the cheek before walking off the balcony of the cafe they were at and heading toward the main road. Clary didn't have anywhere she needed to be for the rest of the day. She had a lot of editing to do, and she had one of her photo packages due to one of her clients tomorrow, but it was almost done. Clary finished her glass of orange juice and then slid her phone into her back pocket as she walked out of the little alley way that the cute little cafe was situated down.

Moving in with Isabelle.

Moving out of the apartment with the boys.

They had all been living together for three years now. At first it had been Simon, Clary and Jonathon, when they were all in University. And then Jace had moved in with them, and it had definitely required a bit of an adjustment period for Clary to begin with, living with the guy that she had had a crush on in high school and still found extremely aesthetically pleasing. Jonathon had then gotten a job across the country, and so it had only been the three of them for a few months for Alec and Magnus had moved in.

She loved living with the four boys, but sometimes it did get a little loud, and in Jace's case, sometimes it got a little complicated.

Maybe moving out wouldn't be such a bad idea.

 _OMG! How many times have you guys watched Jenna Dewan-Tatum's dance to her hubby's_ Magic Mike _song? She's so fucking hot! Her and Channing are my fave celeb couple *sigh*. Out of those Lip Sync battle performances, I don't know if it's the Tatum's who are my favourites, or the Hough siblings, coz Julianne and Derek are just baaaaabes._

 _So for another story that I'm working on, can you guys give me job/career ideas of what you imagine our TMI characters having in an AU world? Clary, Jace, Izzy, Simon, Alec, Magnus, Kaelie, Maia, Raphael...Etc etc. Let me know in the reviews or in a PM._

 _Also, can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful Chris Evans and Jeremy Renner looked at the Oscars? Holy shit. And how Taraji P Henson absolutely slayed on the red carpet? She's so fucking_ gorgeous _._

 _Please leave review!_

 _And if you're logged in and want a preview, let me know xx_


	9. Chapter 9

_We had some girl bonding in the last chapter, and now we've got the guys together. Oh and the tux that Alec is wearing in this one is the one that he wore in his wedding in the first season of_ Shadowhunters, _same with Simon's tux._

"The last time I wore an actual tuxedo was my senior prom in high school," Simon announced as he scrunched up his nose and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

"What about when we went to Jocelyn's wedding last year?" Jace asked as he did up the button on the cuff of the starched white shirt he was wearing. He was still waiting for the shops assistant to come back with a vest and a jacket, and he checked himself out in the multiple floor length mirrors. "The one where Magnus wore that ridiculous red tux?"

"That tux and it's colour was incredible, and I will not hear another word against it," Magnus' voice came shrilly from where he was in one of the changing rooms nearby. Jace and Simon exchanged looks and snorted, before the assistant came back and handed Jace a jacket. She waited for him to slide it on and then looked down to where it was a little long around the cuffs.

"Is this the one that you want?" She asked him, reaching for a measuring tape that was in her back pocket and a little notepad. "Because we can take all your measurements and get it taken up and in for your event."

"Can we have some more time?" Jace flashed her his charming smile. "I'm still deciding."

"Sure thing, hun," she gave him and Simon a smile before backing away. "Call out if you need anything, or if you want to try something else on." Alec came out of his own dressing room just as she left and he stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot and waiting for the boys judgement on his chosen outfit.

"I really didn't think that was going to work for you," Jace began as he looked over the cream suit jacket that Alec had over a white button down shirt and a black pair of pants. "But you look good."

"Dude, you're totally rocking the white tux!" Simon cheered. "Good for you." Alec rolled his eyes, cheeks going a little red before turning to look at himself in the mirror. Jace was going with the classic white tuxedo with a waist coat and plain white shirt. He was also going with a thick tie, but he hadn't decided on the colour of the tie. He still hadn't decided whether he was taking a date or not, and if he did go with a girl, he would get a tie to match her dress. Simon was obviously going with Isabelle, who was going to be wearing a slinky black dress apparently, and so he was wearing black pants and a black shirt, and a very dark blue jacket. Alec was probably going to go with what he was wearing, the white shirt, cream jacket, black pants and a black bow tie, which was hanging untied around his neck. Magnus had grabbed a handful of colourful jackets and shirts and had disappeared into the changing rooms, and hadn't come out.

"It's not bad," Alec mumbled as he turned around in front of the many mirrors, looking at his reflection.

"Oh, and by the way? It was a suit," Simon glanced over at Jace.

"Huh?" The golden haired boy scrunched up his nose in confusion.

"You said that I wore a tux to Jocelyn's wedding last year? I didn't, it was just a suit," Simon made a face in the semi-circle of mirrors that the boys were all facing. "Suits are so much cheaper to rent, but Isabelle made me promise that I would go with a tuxedo this time," he grumbled as though it wasn't something he was happy about, but everyone knew that if it made Isabelle happy, then it made Simon happy.

"Step aside," Magnus announced with a flourish, swishing back the long curtain of his dressing room and stepping out. Jace's eyebrows arched in surprise as he took in the suit that Magnus had gone with. Even though the Indonesian went with so many crazy closet choices, he always somehow managed to pull them off. So it was kind of weird when he came out of the dressing room and he was wearing simple black pants, a black shirt and a silky black and blue tuxedo jacket. The jacket was the only thing with some flourish, a solid black colour with deep blue swirls and patterns over it. Undoubtedly he was going to do something crazy with his make up and his hair and possibly even his shoes but it was still strange that he was going with the simple tuxedo.

"That's..." Jace tilted his head to the side. "Surprisingly tame?"

"Oh, you know that there's nothing tame about me, biscuit," Magnus winked at him and Simon snorted, Alec's cheeks flaring a pinkish colour. Magnus turned to his boyfriend, running his hands over Alec's shoulders and down his arms. "You look ravishing, Alexander," he stated with a gleam in his eye that was missed by the other two men in the room, but the lilt in his voice definitely wasn't.

"Hey! I'm pretty sure we've established that there's never meant to be any banging in public places," Jace warned.

"And by banging we mean _everything_ related to that word. Hand jobs, blow jobs, rim jobs—"

"Not excluding dirty talk, over the pants action—"

"Oh my god!" Alec burst out, interrupting Simon and Jace's tirade while Magnus just grinned in amusement. "Shut _up_!"

"Yeah, yeah," Jace smirked. "Anyway, I was thinking about just going with a black tie?"

"You're not getting one to match what Clary's wearing?" Simon asked, looking sincerely confused as he glanced over at his friend. Jace wasn't sure how to answer that, but his eyes narrowed when he saw Magnus jab Simon in the side and give him a warning look. Something flickered in Simon's eyes and they widened as though he had just realized something. "Oh, right," he muttered.

"What?" Jace frowned at them.

"What?" Simon shot back, attempting a smile and failing profoundly.

"What was that look about it?" Jace asked.

"What look?" Simon spun back to the mirrors, flicking off invisible lint from the arms of the tuxedo and straightening it out, clearly just looking for something to keep his hands busy while he avoided eye contact with Jace.

"Come on, guys," Jace spun his eyes over to Magnus and Alec, who were both adjusting their jackets and shirts as well, studiously avoiding his eyes. "Okay, so whatever is going on, you all know about it. Don't you think that it would be nice to share?" Alec sighed, pursing his lips as he looked up and turned around to look at Jace properly, rather than just his reflection in the mirror.

"Clary might be asking Sebastian to come to the wedding with her," he said plainly, not bothering to sugar coat his words. Jace felt as though the wind had been punched out of his body and all he could do was blink at his friend.

Going with Sebastian.

To a wedding.

That was like a proper date.

That real _couples_ did.

"Jace?" Magnus asked carefully. "Are you okay?" Jace blinked a few more times, dropping his eyes to his cuffs, undoing the buttons there before doing them up again, trying to keep his hands busy and his mind distracted.

"Why wouldn't I be okay?" Jace asked, his voice rough and a very clear indication that he was _not_ okay.

He and Clary weren't together.

They never had been.

She didn't owe him anything—not in that regard.

So he really had no right to be pissed.

None at all.

"It's just a bit weird that she never mentioned anything, is all," he mumbled as he turned around to walk toward the main part of the shop. Simon, Alec and Magnus all exchanged looks as they heard the muted toned of Jace talking to the shop assistant, asking for her to take his measurements and pin up the jacket and the pants to get them adjusted to his size. He came back in with the assistant a few minutes later, the woman cheerily filling the silence that the four boys had created as she started with Jace and told the other boys that she would pin up their tuxes next.

* * *

Jace ignored his friends all the way home, knowing that they knew something was wrong and they were pointedly avoiding talking to him since they wouldn't get any response. When the cab pulled up outside their apartment, they all pitched in to cover the fee and then got out, walking to the elevator. Jace waited for everyone to get out before him, staring down at his feet as he followed after them.

"You guys are back!" Clary sung out as they walked in, looking up from where she was curled up in the corner of the couch. Her expensive laptop, which she had splurged on because she needed one like it for all of her photo editing, was balanced on her knees, and there was some movie playing in the background on the TV. "How was it?"

"Alec went with the white tux after all!" Simon announced as he flopped down next her.

"Ooh, nice," Clary raised her eyebrows as she looked over at Alec. "What did you go with, Jace?" She smiled over at him, green eyes sparking, no idea that he still felt as though he hadn't caught his breath.

"Uh, just black," he muttered as he toed off his shoes and kicked them toward the pile of other shoes. "I'm gonna go crash," he announced to no one in particular. "I'm pretty tired." He ignored his friends eyes as he headed toward the hall leading to his bedroom. There were mumbles behind him, including Clary saying 'he knows it's only five o'clock, right?'. Jace fell down onto his bed face first, eyes closed, trying to figure out the mess that was going on in his head.

"Hey?" There was a knock on his door and he heard Clary step inside. "Are you planning on going to sleep now?" She let out a laugh that sounded a little forced, undoubtedly because she knew that something was wrong and she was just trying to fill the silence until he told her what was wrong. He didn't answer her for a long moment and he could feel her hesitation in the doorway. "Uh, well, I'm starting dinner soon. Let me know if you want something—"

"Are you still seeing Sebastian?" Jace asked abruptly, turning over on his bed and sitting up on the mattress, looking over at her. Clary was taken aback by his question, frowning a little.

"Uh..." she uttered.

"It's a simple question," he snapped, and immediately regretted it. He had no right to be pissed off at her or speaking at her in a harsh tone and Clary's frown deepened, now more in annoyance than in confusion.

"I don't know," Clary told him, her voice terse. "We've text a few times. He's mentioned meeting up, but I'm not sure yet."

"Well, the boys said that you were thinking about inviting him as your date to the wedding," he pushed back, even though he should just stop talking now. Clary let out a huff of breath, shoving her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants.

"No," she hissed. "The _boys_ want me to invite him. _I_ haven't made any decisions. And you know what?" She put her hand on the door knob, tightening her grip until her fingers were bloodless. "Even if I did invite him, then you've got no right to be acting all pissy about it. You're not my boyfriend, or my brother, so who I date shouldn't be any of your business." And with that, she stepped back into the doorway and slammed the door shut behind her.

 _Got some jealousy showing here, which could be viewed as process. Haha._

 _Okay! So my song recommendations this time are_ Eraser _by Ed Sheeran, but let's be honest, I completely love pretty much everything by him. Also_ Alarm _by Ann Marie, which was recommended to me by Caaatttt, and_ Sleepover _by Hayley Kiyoko, although just like with Ed Sheeran, I love everything by Hayley, and her music videos are always incredible._

 _Something else I wanted to ask about was if any of you guys have watched_ Riverdale _? I remember reading the_ Archie _comics when I was younger, and I was pretty surprised when they decided to make a show about it. I find the show...Pretty average, but I really love some of the characters, especially Cheryl Blossom and Jughead Jones. And so, like with any fandom when I start to really like the characters, I've decided that I'm probably going to write a fic! I'm wondering if any of you guys would be interested? Let me know!_

 _Leave a review, let me know what you think :)_

 _And if you're logged in and want a preview, let me know, and I'll send one out xx_


	10. Chapter 10

_And we've got the next chapter! Don't worry, we're getting closer to the wedding ;)_

The tension between Jace and Clary was clear—and it wasn't the type of tension that their friends usually teased them about either, unresolved sexual tension, so Isabelle put it. It was more of a friction where everyone was waiting for one of them to just snap and hiss at the other. It had been four days since they had even spoken to each other, which was the longest time they had gone without talking to each other since they had been living together. Even when one of them was away, when Clary spent a week or so back with her mother or Jon, or when Jace would have a boys weekend with Alec, there would be texts or calls.

Magnus tried talking to Clary, who glared at him and said it was none of his business, and he then went to try and talk to Jace, who had promptly slammed the door in his face.

Alec tried his hand as well, going to both of them with bribery food offers. They took the food, and then refused to talk any further.

Simon didn't even bother trying to go to Jace, because Simon was probably the last person who Jace was going to open up to, but he did try to get Clary to tell him what was going on.

She shut him down.

The room mates had even tried to get Isabelle in on it as well, although she had seen the long suffering look on Clary's face and then immediately refused, saying that they all needed to take a step back and let them sort it out for themselves.

Jace pulled some longer hours at work, disappearing around six or six-thirty in the morning, before Clary was up, and coming home around seven at night. Clary didn't have to many events that she needed to go to through the week, so she spent most of the day in her room, choosing to have her own, smaller TV playing in the background on her set of drawers while editing her photos.

Aline and Helen's wedding was next weekend, and Jace had decided that he was going to go stag. It was too late to ask anyone now, anyway, despite what he had told himself at the tuxedo fitting, without making it seem like an after thought. If he was being completely honest, he kind of thought that he and Clary were going to go together. He knew that she was wearing some sort of purple dress, and he had looked at a couple of ties that he thought would go with her dress and was going to go back and get that when he picked up his tuxedo.

It wouldn't be like a date-date, but sort of how she went to company dinners with him, or sometimes when their friends were all off on proper couple dates with each other they would go out and get ice cream or watch a movie.

So maybe their friends were right.

He liked her.

He would be an idiot not to, really. She was funny and smart and knew him well, more than happy to call him on his bullshit when the situation required it. But this thing that he had with her—their friendship, even though it nudged at the line between friendship and something more—it was important to him.

He had thought it a couple of times before and he had always pushed it to the back of his head because he didn't completely understand it. But when she had gone home with Sebastian that night at the club, and when she had come home the next morning, clearly having showered at his place and looking all happy and in that after glow of sex, he had been furious. Jace had wanted to curl his hands into fists and put them through a wall.

He had wanted to put _Sebastian_ through a wall, which was completely unfair.

"Shit, man, it's like you're always here!" Sebastian announced as he came over to Jace's space in the corner of the office floor. Given Jace's current train of thought, which was lending toward hurting Sebastian, he had to clench his jaw before looking up to the meet the blondes gaze. "I swear, every day this week, you're here when I come in the morning, and you're still here when I leave at night," he dropped his tone and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Has this got anything to do with your booty call down in accounting, does it?"

"No, it doesn't," Jace muttered, his fingers flying over the keyboard of his computer, and if Sebastian was any good at picking up on social cues then he would know that Jace was not in the mood for talking. But Sebastian didn't seem to pick up on that, because now he was leaning his elbows against the partition around Jace's cubicle.

"So have you got any plans for next weekend? One of my buddies won a bunch of tickets to this baseball game, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Sebastian pursed his lips slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "And there's a ticket for your hot roommate as well, if she wants to come." He tried to look casual about it, but Jace frowned at his computer, his fingers freezing over the key board.

"Wait, next weekend?" He asked, his frown deepening.

"Uh, yeah?" Sebastian looked confused. "I mean, if you have plans that's totally fine."

"So that's what you're going to be doing next weekend?" Jace asked, finally looking up to Sebastian.

"What else would I be doing?" Sebastian scrunched up his nose and tilted his head to the side. "I mean, this weekend I'm going out of town with my sister and her kids— _so_ not what I would plan for a relaxing weekend," he made a pained face. "But then I'm all up for a game next weekend with beers and shit. And, if you can bring Clary, a hot girl," there was a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Uh," Jace scratched at the side of his face, searching for something to say to cover up the random push of questions. "I'll check our calender. I'll let you know."

"Dude, you have a calender?" Sebastian snorted and shook his head. "I thought only my mum had a calender." Jace forced a smile, which was actually a little more relaxed, but for a completely different reason. It wasn't because he was looking forward to a baseball game with a couple of his friends. It was to do with the fact that Sebastian had no plans for next weekend.

The weekend when the wedding was.

"Jace?" Sebastian frowned at him, clearly he had said something that required an answer because he was looking at him expectantly.

"Oh, sorry?" Jace blinked at him.

"I said, do you think that Clary is busy? Could you ask her if she wants to come?" Sebastian looked a little embarrassed by needing to ask.

"Why can't you just ask her?" Jace asked bluntly.

"Uh," Sebastian tapped his fingers against the partition. "Well, she maybe said that it was just a one off thing between us," he gave a smirk that he tried to play of cocky, but it wasn't quite coming across that way. "But I think that maybe if she saw me again, we could hit it off. The first time it was just about getting her into bed because she's so fucking hot—" Jace's fingers clenched around a pen that was next to his keyboard. "—but the next morning was fun, and I think that if we saw each other in public and it was more, I don't know, friendly or whatever, she might change her mind."

So Sebastian liked Clary.

And was more than willing to admit that far faster than Jace had been.

"When did she tell you that it was a one off thing?" Jace asked.

"Huh?" Sebastian frowned.

"When did she tell you that it was a one off thing?" He repeated.

"Um," Sebastian looked confused by the question. "Last Friday night." That was the day before the tuxedo fitting. So when he had gotten pissed off at her, she had already told Sebastian that she wasn't interested. Clearly she just hadn't gotten around to telling the rest of the roommates that it had been broken off if they were still trying to get her to ask him the wedding.

"And she hasn't contacted you since then?"

"No," Sebastian was looking pissed off now. "Look, can you ask her or not?" Jace bit down on his lower lip and jerked his head in a nod.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks, man," Sebastian gave him another smirk, looking a whole lot more hopeful this time as he walked off to his own cubicle. Jace shifted his eyes to the corner of his computer screen, to the time. It was a little after four. Given the extra hours that he had put in this week, he could get away with leaving a bit less than an hour early. He logged off his computer, grabbed his bag and headed toward the elevator at the end of the floor.

Yeah.

He liked Clary.

He liked her as more than a friend. Most definitely.

Jace remembered Clary back in high school. He honestly hadn't paid all that much attention to her for a long time, she was just his friends little sister. She was always locked up in her room with her cameras or her paint, and whenever she was around them she would get this blush on her cheeks and stutter over her words. Jon had teased Jace a couple of times, saying that his sister had a crush on him, but he had just brushed it off. Quite a few girls had a thing for him, it was all part of what came when you were one of the hottest guys in school.

In the last year and a half of school he had paid more attention to her. She didn't seem embarrassed or nervous all the time, and she was a whole lot more comfortable in her own skin, and so it made it easier to have a conversation with her. Clary would hang out with them when they were watching movies and sometimes she would come out and have dinner with them at a burger bar down the road.

There had been one night, though. Things were all hazy from the night. He had gotten into a fight with his dad and gone to Jon's party to get drunk. Everything had gotten to be a bit much, and so he had gone upstairs to the first empty room. He remembered Clary coming in and seeing him, and sitting down next to him, and he remembered her fingers wrapping around his and feeling calm. Content. He had been pretty drunk though, and couldn't remember anything else.

The next day it was as though nothing had happened and so he had let it go.

Maybe he shouldn't have.

 _My song recommendations this time are_ Galway Girl _by Ed Sheeran,_ Kings _by Years and Years and_ Pretty Girl _by Maggie Lindemann. Especially the first song, I've had it on repeat for the past two weeks. So addicted. Also Calum Scott's cover of_ Dancing On My Own _. Holy shit. So incredible. His audition for Britain's Got Talent almost had me and my husband in tears, he was so incredible._

 _Also, I can't stop watching_ Law and Order: SVU. _I've watched it on so many occasions, but holy shit, I've almost made my way through two seasons in two weeks. Haha. Olivia Benson is one of my all time favourite characters of all time...She's so amazing...Another show I'm really getting into is_ Riverdale _. I thought it was quite young the first few episodes, but I'm quite enjoying it now. I absolutely love Cheryl, and I really like Betty and Jughead and Veronica as well :)_

 _Leave a review, let me know what you guys think xx_

 _If you would like a preview, let me know in your review :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_Hey, guys! So here we go with the next update. Also just wanting to let you know that I will be taking the rest of the month off, so no other updates until May. Just have a lot going on in my life at the moment and I'm feeling a bit stressed out. But I'll still be around, so if you want to fangirl or talk, send me a PM. From May, the updating schedule on my profile will be adhered to once again :)_

 _So the dress that Clary is described as wearing in this one is the purple one that Lily Collins wore to_ Love, Rosie _premiere. Seriously, still can't get over how beautiful that dress was, will probably be using it as reference in quite a few of my stories. Haha._

"You and Jace really need to get whatever this is under control," Isabelle hissed as she glanced over Clary's shoulder before quickly looking back at her and swiping her fingers along the redheads cheekbones, smearing the faint dusting of blush there. "Because you can't have bad vibes at a wedding, that's such bad luck." Clary licked her tongue along her lips and Isabelle groaned in annoyance as she had to check the lipstick hadn't smeared. "And _stop doing that_."

"Okay, seriously, Iz?" Clary sighed and batted her hands away. "My make up is fine. Now let me get back to my job."

"It's not really your job," Isabelle reasoned. "You're just taking a bunch of 'before' photos. This is _your friends_ wedding. At the end of the day, the only job you have here is to enjoy yourself," she ended her sentence with a pointed look. "With all your other friends who are coming to the wedding."

"Me and Jace are fine," Clary sighed, getting up from where she had been sitting for Isabelle to do her make up, and had also done her hair, since Magnus was getting ready with all of the boys. She was wearing a strapless lavender coloured dress, which was dark around the bust and then faded out into a lighter colour the further down her body it fell. It was the first time in a long time that she was wearing a floor length dress—obviously when she went out with her friends she didn't wear one, but even at the weddings and events that she photographed at she couldn't wear one because she needed to be able to move around easily.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure you're full of shit—"

"And here we've got the bride!" Came an announcement from the corner of the room, where Helens' mother was standing, her smile so big it was almost breaking her face in half. "Or, you know, one of the brides," Nerissa Blackthorn continued before turning to face the door. "I'm not really sure of the correct wording in this situation." Helen walked into the room, and she looked absolutely gorgeous.

Clary was actually pretty certain she heard Isabelle give a wet sniff.

The instant Helen cracked a nervous smile, all of the girls in the room were practically falling over their feet to rush over to her, fawning over how beautiful she looked, how amazing her hair was, how intricately her dress was made. Her father was standing in the corner of the room looking weepy eyed as well, and Clary couldn't resist picking up her camera and snapping a few photos of his face as well.

The reaction of the parents and the two getting married were always her favourite parts to capture at weddings.

While Helen came from a big family, which meant that the wedding was going to be big, the wedding party itself was quite small. There were the two brides, obviously, and both of their fathers were going to walk them down the aisle. Isabelle was going to be the only bridesmaid and Mark Blackthorn, Helen's brother, was going to be the groomsman.

The photographer that they had hired for the wedding was over at Aline's parents home, and Helen had asked that Clary take the more intimate photos. It was good, because that distracted her from everything that was going on in her head. The fact that she was going to spend a whole afternoon at a wedding—a wedding that she was actually going to be enjoying, not just watching from behind a lens—and she was going to be there with a guy that she may or may not have a thing for.

And who she was currently fighting with.

There were definitely better situations that she would like to find herself in, but she would do the best she could, because today was nothing to do with her.

It was all about Aline and Helen.

"Okay, let's start with just the bride," Clary called out with a grin, holding up her camera and nodding over to Helen. "And then we'll make our way through the parents and the brother, and the bridal party. I'm assuming that you're going to have photos with extended family at the wedding?" Helen nodded her head jerkily at her and Clary couldn't stop her grin from growing even more. The nervousness on her face was clear, but it was a good type of nervous. The friends that were there and her parents and Mark were all trying to reassure her, which seemed to be working, although Clary had been to enough of these to know that the instant Helen gets in the limo to go to the wedding she was going to have a whole new rush of nerves.

"Where do you want me to stand?" Helen croaked out and Isabelle nodded to the corner of the room, where she had spent some time decorating a floor length mirror with some chiffon and a few flowers she had stolen from the arrangements that were being taken to the venue. It made a simple but elegant backdrop for a few of the photos before the actual wedding.

"You look stunning," Clary murmured soothingly to Helen as she woman walked past her.

"You've been to a hundred of these things, right?" Helen swallowed hard as she began fiddling with the the silver and diamond bracelet around her wrist. "Is this normal? To feel like I'm making the biggest mistake of my life but then know that tomorrow everything is going to feel completely right?"

"You make it sound as though I've been _in_ a hundred of these things," Clary laughed. "Which I haven't. So I don't know how the brides feel."

"Oh god, you know what I mean!" Helen groaned and Clary laughed again.

"I can tell you that the brides always look nervous, and so do the grooms, or in your case, it would be the _other_ bride," Clary reached out to touch Helen's arm and rubbed her thumb against her forearm. "There's usually a lot of throwing up, some of the time there are shots of tequila beforehand, but then afterwards everything seems a lot calmer," she tilted her head to the side. "Of course, that's until the fathers start coming out with the embarrassing stories and the drunk uncles start hitting on the bridesmaids." Helen let out a huff of a laugh and looked down, still fiddling with the bracelet. "Did Aline give that to you?"

"Yeah, it was an anniversary present," Helen murmured.

"Look," Clary tilted her head forward. "You and Aline are disgustingly in love. As disgusting as Magnus and Alec, and you know how gross those two can be." Helen let out another laugh, but this one was a little less choked sounding. "Now get your gorgeous ass over there, and give me a smile."

The limo's arrived just after two, and the wedding party all piled into the back of the vehicle, along with both parents. There was a second limo which took Clary and four of Helen's other friends who had been at the house getting ready, helping her with her hair and her dress and her make up. The four of Helen's friends were girls that Clary had only met a couple of times, at Helen's birthdays and at the girls engagement party, and so she spent most of the ride over on her phone. Magnus and Simon had sent her a couple of texts, photos of the boys getting ready and trying to get photos of Helen out of her. Clary had refused to send any pictures of the bride, saying that they would just need to wait for them to get to the church.

It took almost half an hour in the New York traffic for them to reach the venue, and when they did, the two white limo's which had just dropped off Aline and her own family and friends, was just pulling away. Clary tried to catch a glimpse of the other bride, but the doors were already closing behind them. She got out of the limo, and then raised her eyebrows, a smile pulling on her lips as Alec came down the steps, looking breath taking in his white suit.

"Shit, you're gorgeous," Alec breathed as he looked her up and down before resting back on her face. "That dress is amazing."

"Oh, you sure know how to flatter a girl," Clary smiled at him. Alec bit his lip and then offered his arm to her.

"Ready to go in?" He asked her and she nodded, sliding her hand into the crook of his arm and letting him lead her inside. The venue was gorgeous, and it had been redecorated and rearranged to make room so that rather than having one aisle down the middle, where the bride would usually walk, the seats were all in the middle of the room rather than being split, and the brides were going to walk down the sides, before coming together at the alter.

"It's so pretty," Clary squeaked into Alec's air and he laughed as he lead her toward the front of the venue where they were to be seated.

"You sound as though you've never been to a wedding," he said as he watched her look around in awe, her mouth open.

"I've only been to one wedding where it's been someone that I care about, my mums," she said. "So it's different, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Alec nodded and then stopped as they reached the line of chairs that they were allocated to. Clary turned and then froze when she saw that there were only two spare seats. One next to Magnus, which was clearly meant for Alec, and then one next to Jace, which was intended for Clary. She swallowed hard, and glanced around, but most of the seats were already taken, and this was the line of seats she was meant to be sitting in. She took in a breath and walked down toward the seat, swishing her long dress out from underneath her before sitting down.

Jace looked gorgeous.

And _smelt_ amazing.

It wasn't fair.

Their arms brushed against one anothers as they shifted next to each other, purposefully keeping their faces forward. Clary's neck felt stiff and when Jace moved his hands to adjust his cuffs, his movements were jerky.

This was going to be a long ceremony.

 _Songs this time..._ Symphony _by Clean Bandit featuring Zara Lasson. Holy shit. So completely in love._ Shape of You _, the cover by Madilyn Bailey. This chick has_ suuuch _an incredible voice, I love most of her covers, but this one is amazing. And the song_ Shout _, the version by Think Up Anger, that was on Riverdale. It's incredible. Also, I finally got around to watching_ The Get Down _, and I can't believe I waited so long,_

 _Let me know what songs you guys are listening to, and if you guys have seen_ The Get Down _!_

 _Did you guys like the chapter? Yes, no, maybe?_

 _Leave a review, let me know what you think :)_

 _Also, I would like to say Transgender Day of Visibility for the other day xx_

 _If you guys are logged in and want a preview, just let me know, and I'll send one out!_


	12. Chapter 12

_And we've got an update! Thank you guys for being patient with me; just got a lot going on right now, and my health is still playing up_ — _alongside my usual migraines, I've also had a cold for over a month that I just can't shake, so if you guys have any home remedies, let me know! Anyway, on with the chapter, hope you enjoy!_

 _Also_ — _there's been some problems with uploading, giving me errors when I'm uploading, and apparently not sending out alerts to you guys by email. So...Fingers crossed this works for everyone this time!_

It wasn't exactly fair to either of the brides, but if Clary was asked to recount exactly what happened during the ceremony, she wasn't going to be able to give an accurate answer. It wasn't that she wasn't paying attention—because she most definitely _was_ —it was just as soon as the two woman laid eyes on each other as they reached the front of the building, there were these gorgeous, heart stopping smiles on their faces, and it was like everything faded into black around them.

Helen didn't look anywhere close to the nervous wreck she had been when they had been getting ready at her parents house earlier, that had all smoothed from her facial expression. And Aline, who Clary picked up on had been nervous as well, because there were slight chips in her nail polish from her biting her fingers, a habit of hers, was smiling back brightly.

The marriage celebrant began the proceedings, but Helen and Aline just stared at each other, and then Clary didn't feel so bad, because maybe she wouldn't be able to remember everything that happened through the ceremony, but she doubted that either of these girls knew what was going on around them. Even when they needed to give their vows, Aline had to be prompted twice, and her cheeks went a little pink and she let out a laugh, and Helen grinned with her, squeezing her hands.

They repeated their vows to each other, and Isabelle had to duck her head to touch her thumb to the corner of her eyes. Clary was glad that she wasn't standing in the front of the room full of people because when she started crying, she couldn't be quite as subtle and pretty as Isabelle. Her eyes welled up when the marriage celebrant officially called them ' _wife and wife_ ', and as the tears dripped down her cheeks, she felt Jace's arm shift next to hers, and then his fingers tentatively wrapped around two of hers. The touch made her tense at first, but then she ignored it, and relaxed sideways slightly, returning the pressure back on his hand.

After the ceremony, Helen's hordes of relatives and Aline's smaller family surrounded the two, giving their congratulations and exchanging hugs and kisses. Isabelle managed to duck herself out of the group, finding her way over to their group of friends who were patiently waiting their turn to go up to Aline and Helen.

"You look hot," Magnus greeted Isabelle, giving her long, gold dress an appreciative look and then glanced sideways at Clary. "And you even made her make up passable, although she's gone and ruined it now."

"Oh, shut up," Clary rolled her eyes, but there was no heat behind it. She knew that there were probably a few tracks in her foundation and powder, and her eye make up might be a little clumpy. "I'll get it fixed up before any photos are taken."

"Ooh, opening!" Magnus quickly announced as he saw a parting in the group of relatives and darted forward. Alec laughed as he followed after his boyfriend to share their own congratulations with the newly married couple. Helen gave Magnus a wide grin as the man threw his arms around her neck and wrapped her in a tight hug. Alec leaned in to kiss Aline on the cheek, and then Jace, Simon and Clary all moved in as well.

"Thank you guys so much for coming," Aline said as she and Clary embraced.

"Of course," she squeezed her forearms gently. "You guys are absolutely fucking gorgeous," she glanced around them and made a slight face. "And I'm really glad you guys didn't go with a church, or else I'd probably be smited down for my bad language." Aline laughed, and then Clary shifted so that she could hug Helen.

"So, we're going to go and take our photos now, but you guys can head over to the reception hall now. Most of the guests are going over there now, except for our close family and the bridal party," Helen told them. "You guys know where the reception's taking place, right?" There was a round of nods and Helen's smile widened again—it was like she was never going to stop smiling—and then she turned back to her wife and leaned in to press a kiss to her mouth, linking their hands together.

"I'll see you guys over there," Isabelle murmured, reaching over to kiss Simon before slipping back beside Helen to resume her bridesmaids duties, which were pretty much holding the bouquets of flowers while the two woman kept giving out hugs and kisses, and making sure no one was standing on their dresses. Alec, Simon, Jace, Magnus and Clary spent a little bit longer in the hall, talking with Helen's brother and a couple of the girls friends that they had met before, and then left the wedding venue to go to the reception. Magnus, Alec and Clary took one cab, while Simon and Jace took another. Despite the hand holding during the ceremony, that didn't ease the weird tension between Clary and Jace, and she thought it was probably a better idea to keep her distance.

She didn't want to drag up _whatever_ that was up today.

The first hour and a half at the reception was mainly spent speaking with the families of the brides and their friends. There were waiters coming around with wine and finger foods, and Clary was more than content to sit at their assigned table and people watch. Magnus, of course, was getting on well with everyone, he sort of forced himself on people until they _had_ to like him, whether they wanted to or not. It was funny to watch him interacting with Helen's grandmother, who had looked a little hesitant at first to talk to the beautiful man with glittery blue eyeliner, and was now laughing and reaching out to hold his arm.

The place was decorated beautifully, and Clary's fingers itched to get on her camera and capture everything that was going on. It felt wrong of her not to have her camera at a moment like this, but Helen and Aline had specifically said that they wanted her there as a guest, and to be caught in the photos with everyone else. Besides, they had also asked for her recommendation for the photographer, and the girl they had gone with was a good one, so she would do the wedding justice.

The bridal party and their close family arrived just after five-thirty and then dinner was announced as being served soon, and people were asked to take their seats. Isabelle was sitting at the bridal table, but the rest of them had their own table, which they were thankful for. It worked a little easier when you didn't have to adapt conversation to involve someone you didn't really know. Jace and Clary had been sat next to each other, and they exchanged tight smiles before subtly ignoring each other.

Or maybe it wasn't so subtle, given Magnus, Alec and Simon kept giving each other looks.

Their elbows bumped together a couple of times and Clary would be lying if she didn't keep stealing looks in his direction because it was just _unfair_ how good he looked. She had never really paid much attentions to suits or tuxedo's. She was around them all the time at weddings and while a lot of guys looked ridiculously attractive in them, none of them looked as good as Jace did.

He should only _ever_ wear that tuxedo, with his tie loosened a little around his neck, the tattoo showing a little from underneath his collar.

 _Always_ wear that tuxedo.

Clary cleared her throat and her cheeks went red when she realized that she had been staring at him for a far too long and he had looked up and caught her. There was a flash of confusion across his face, and then he bit down on his lower lip as he raised his eyebrow in a question, and she quickly turned back to her plate of food. And tried to ignore the heated feeling that was spreading through her limbs.

Speeches and toasts were made after dinner, and then the cake was cut. The photographer was moving around the reception hall, snapping photos of everything, and Clary was glad when she saw what type of camera they were using, knowing that it would take incredibly good photographs, especially in the hands of one of the most talented photographers that Clary had ever worked with. When the music started for the first dance, and Clary felt her throat tighten.

The song that the two girls had chosen wasn't a typically used wedding song. It was _Fade Into You_ by Mazzy Star. But the thing about the song was the history that it held for the two girls. Clary—actually _all_ of them—had been present when this song ended up being important for these two girls. It was at an engagement party they had all gone to for a couple of friends about three years ago. This song had been playing, and the two girls had been swaying back and forth, barely in time to the music, and Aline had leaned in and told Helen that she loved her for the first time. Clary remembers Helen coming back over to where they had all been standing in a group on the edge of the dance floor, talking amongst themselves, and Helen had looked so teary eyed that Isabelle had worried that the pair had broken up.

"Shit, this _song_ ," Magnus mumbled, and he looked just as weepy as Clary felt right now.

"God, we're pathetic," Clary snorted and swiped at her face. Alec let out a laugh, but even he and Jace had sappy smiles on their faces. Isabelle got up from where she was at the bridal table and came over to ask Simon to dance with her. Then Aline and Helen's parents went onto the dance foor, and then a few more couples. Magnus and Alec got up, and it was just Jace and Clary left at the table.

There couldn't have been any other way to make the awkward feelings any more obvious.

The first song ended, and then moved onto another slow one, a Bryan Adams one. Clary was trying hard to ignore the heat that was coming off Jace's body, because he had shifted to rest his elbow on the table beside her to get a better view of the dance floor. She smiled when she saw Simon awkwardly stand on Isabelle's feet more than once, but the dark haired girl didn't look as though she had cared at all. Magnus and Alec were nuzzling up against each other, looking as loved up and disgusting as Aline and Helen did.

"Uh," Jace cleared his throat, and Clary's body jerked as she realized that he had to be talking to her. "Did you know that Magnus has booked some romantic getaway thing for him and Alec for the next three days?"

"Yeah," Clary let out a short laugh. "Just waiting on those two to be the next ones having one of these things," she waved her hand in the direction of the room.

"It won't be too long," Jace mumbled and Clary nodded, her eyes drifting back over to Magnus and Alec and smiling. They were curled around each other, and Magnus had his face buried in Alec's neck while Alec had his chin pressed against Magnus' forehead. Their movements weren't in time to the music and they looked completely involved in their own world. "Did you..." Jace sounded nervous, and Clary finally turned around in her seat to look back at him, sucking her lower lip into her mouth as she watched him. "Did you want to dance?"

They had done this a bunch of times, at events and parties and graduation dances, and he had definitely _never_ sounded nervous when he had asked her.

And his apprehension in turn made her feel even more on edge.

"Yeah," Clary's voice was barely audible, so she followed it up with a jerk of a nod. Jace got up first and held out his hand to her, and Clary hesitated for a moment before taking his hand and letting him lead her onto the dance floor. There were already quite a few couples dancing, as well as a couple of groups of kids, giggling and wiggling their hips, waving their hands above their heads. Alec glanced over at the two of them with an expression Clary doesn't even want to _start_ to decipher, and quickly turned her face back Jace. He leaned in close to her, one hand resting on the small of her back, and she couldn't stop the shiver that tracked down her spine. She knew that he felt it as well, because there was a sharp intake of breath as he pulled her tighter against his body.

It felt so good, to let her body relax against his, turning her head so that she could rest her cheek on his shoulder, and she let her eyes close as she inhaled his familiar smell. She lost track of how long they danced together, but she knew that it was a while, because in the back of her mind, she could hear the music continuing to change. They were all slow paced songs, which Clary was thankful for.

She really didn't think she could handle being pulled away from Jace right now, even though she knew that she would force herself to if it meant keeping up appearances.

"I'm sorry I got annoyed at you," Jace murmurs after a while, leaning down to press the words against her ear. Their movements slowed almost to a stop, and Clary finally looked up at him, meeting his gaze properly for the first time in days. His thumb was massaging her lower back soothingly, the sensations making her whole body flush with heat. "I just...I didn't like the idea of you and Sebastian together." Clary blinked at him, not sure what she was meant to say in response. Their dancing stopped completely and Jace jutted his chin forward, as though preparing himself to say something that she might not like. "Actually...I don't like the idea of you and _anyone_ together," he corrected himself.

"Wh..." Clary's eyebrows pulled together, swallowing hard as her mind scrambled blankly for words. "I—"

"Mind if I step in for a dance with my best friend?" Simon suddenly asked, seemingly completely unaware of the moment that he was interrupting. The two of them turned to him, both looking blankly at Simon. He frowned for a moment and looked between them. "Uh, did I—"

"No, it's fine," Clary finally managed to say, glancing at Jace before stepping away from him and toward Simon. "I'd love to dance." Simon was still frowning as he took her hand and lead her away, and Jace dropped his head, dragging in a deep breath through his teeth.

 _Sorry, this is going to be a little bit of a long A/N—only because I've got a lot that I want to recommend to you guys! Movie wise; I've only just seen_ Moonlight _, taken me a while to get there, but I saw it, and I loved it. My heart was aching through it, but it was beautiful._ Beauty and the Beast, _it was great. Was really worried because I loved the original so much, but it was great. And also_ Logan _, shit—I managed to hold it together right at the end, where Laura changed the cross to a X. Then I kind of lost it. So I absolutely recommend all thee of these._

 _Now, with TV series—_ Big Little Lies _. Holy SHIT! This was incredible! I binged the whole thing in one morning. It was sooooo good. I've also just started watching_ American Gods _, and I've got high hopes for it :) AND_ SENSE8 _SEASON 2 IS OUT! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! And it's just as amazing as ever! Also, I've got some song recommendations;_ Enjoy The Ride _and_ Alive _, by Krewella. Great songs, I've had them on repeat for the past couple of weeks. And then_ Red _, by Tyler Ward. The original song is by Taylor Swift, although I've never actually heard that version, only the one by Tyler, and it's so fucking beautiful._

 _And finally, I've got two stories that I'm pretty obsessed with. The first one I've been meaning to recommend for ages, but I just kept forgetting! It's by reppinda5o3, who is absolutely fucking amazing and listens to all my word vomit with my stories and is always there for me when I need to rant/rave. It's called_ Clarissa Is A Punk _, it's an AU story, she write in incredible detail, and you should all check it out! The second story is_ The Cry of The Wild _, another AU story, by happiness trap. She updates frequently as well, so that's always a plus!_

 _Alright—so let me know what you think of the update! Did you enjoy it? Let me know what your recommendations for songs, fics, movies or TV series are, and if you guys agree with the ones I've included._

 _If you'd like a preview of the next chapter and you're logged in, let me know, and I'll send it out xx_

 _Also, it's my birthday next week, so a review would be a pretty nice present from ya'll :)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Hey, pretties! I wanted to say a special thank you to you guys who were giving me different tips to get rids of my cold that's been hanging around. I'm happy to report that it is starting to disappear, although I'm still drained. Not too sure what it is, past couple of weeks have just been hard. Not having a great day today, so thought I would update, get my mind off things! Oh, also, I'm really sorry about the errors and stuff that have been happening with this site. When everything got fixed, a lot of random alerts came through to me, including reviews that dated back to sometime in March, so if I've missed replying to some, that would be why._

Jace didn't get another chance to speak to Clary alone for the rest of the wedding, but maybe that was a good thing.

Whatever they needed to discuss really shouldn't take place in a situation like this, one where they were meant to be celebrating the most important day in their friends lives.

After Simon whisked Clary away, Isabelle had put her hand on Jace's arm and lead him back to the table. As usual, Isabelle knew far more about what was going on in his head than she was letting on, but she seemed to agree that now wasn't the time or place either, so she settled for keeping him distracted by talking about the mishaps when taking the wedding photos. Apparently a couple of the uncles had kept stepping on the trains of the two brides dresses, and then Aline's father had burst out crying, saying that his daughter looked so beautiful, and that had been a fifteen minute set back to get him looking photo ready again.

Jace appreciated what his friend was doing, but he couldn't stop his eyes from going back to Clary.

When he had seen her walk into the wedding venue this morning, one hand tucked into Alec's arm it felt as though his heart had stopped in his chest. Her hair was pinned back from her face, her elegant neck on display, and the dress she was wearing unfairly left her smooth shoulders and collarbones bare. The dress was gorgeous, flowing and purple, and it made his breath do all sorts of weird things in his throat.

And dancing with her, feeling her body so close and warm against his, made him think about how perfect she fit there. He had never thought about it, when they had danced together in the past, that everything just felt so natural between them. He had just taken that all for granted, until he realized that it was something that he might actually loose, and that was when everything started to click in his head.

The way he felt about Clary was _more_ than friendship.

It was _more_ than what he had felt toward anyone.

He just didn't now how he was meant to put all of that into words, especially if she didn't feel the same way. He could possibly ruin everything between them, more than how it was at the moment.

It was almost one in the morning when everything was finally winding down and the two brides were ushered into a white, stretch limo, with the words _Just Married_ scrawled across the back window in pretty, loopy script. The one's who were left at the wedding were all on the footpath, waving after them, and shouting their last congratulations.

"Well, we're gonna head off," Magnus announced, linking his fingers together with Alec's. He must have told Alec that he had something planned, because the dark haired boy looked both excited _and_ worried at the same time, which was completely understandable when Magnus was involved. Isabelle looked tired, her head resting on Simon's shoulder, and Simon looked a little nervous as he glanced between Clary and Jace and then pursed his lips.

"I was going to spend the night with Iz," he said hesitantly, as though he was expecting them to disagree. Jace just raised an eyebrow at him, trying to play off the fact that he had Clary were going to be alone in the apartment tonight.

"Alright," Jace nodded his head jerkily and then glanced in Clary's direction, trying not to pay any attention to the way she was pulling her lower lip into her mouth, making it even fuller and redder and unfairly more kissable. "You ready to head off then?"

"Yeah, if you are," Clary mumbled and he nodded. "I'll just go grab my bag," she turned and walked back into the reception hall, Isabelle and Simon following after her. Magnus was tapping his fingers erratically against the screen of his phone, and Alec was standing on the edge of the side walk, hailing down a cab. One pulled over and Magnus looked up from his phone, a grin on his face as he leaned forward to press a hard kiss against his boyfriends mouth.

"Don't we need to go back to our apartment to pack?" Alec asked in confusion when Magnus tells the driver their destination address.

"Nope. Taken care of," Magnus smirks.

"Is that where my blue and white shirt went?" Alec wondered out loud and Magnus just shrugged before turning back to Jace, his expression suddenly serious, eyes flickering over his shoulder before back to him.

"The shit that's going to happen tonight?" He started pointedly. "You make sure you talk it through as well. Don't just bang and then go back to this horrible silence, because it fucking sucks."

"We're not gonna—" Jace began to protest, but Magnus just arched an eyebrow and Jace stopped talking, because there was no point in arguing with him. He honestly didn't think that they _were_ going to have some magical night together, because with the way Clary kept avoiding his gaze, he was guessing she was planning on going straight to bed and closing her door _very_ firmly behind her. "We'll be fine," Jace finally settled for, and it seemed as though that was enough for Magnus because he nodded.

"Just have this all sorted out by the time we get back," Magnus said. "I hate you two hurting." Jace managed a tight smile, and then turned when he heard steps approaching them. Clary appeared at his side, looking tired but just as beautiful as she had looked the first time he had seen her that morning. "We'll see you in two days, biscuit," Magnus said to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek and Jace one last squeeze on the arm before getting in the cab next to Alec. Isabelle and Simon were next, Isabelle looking as though she was going to fall asleep the second she got into the backseat of the cab. Jace held up his hand and waited for their own cab to pull over.

"Usually Izzy manages these late nights well," he mused out loud, mainly just in an effort to start a conversation.

"Uh, she was up all night with Helen," Clary said softly. "The bride-to-be was freaking out, and going between saying 'fuck this all, we should elope' to 'this is a terrible idea—what happens if we buy an apartment and a dog, and then she leaves me, and she takes my dog!'. It was a pretty distressing way to spend the evening." Jace let out a soft snort of laughter as a cab pulled up next to them, holding the door open for Clary to get in first, holding her dress up so that it didn't get caught. He gave their address to the driver and then leaned back into the cracked, cheap leather.

The twenty minute drive back to their apartment was so painfully quiet that he could actually hear his heartbeat. It was thrumming in his ears, getting faster and faster as they approached their apartment, wondering if Clary was nervous about being back in their home, alone with him.

It shouldn't mean anything, because they had been in this situation a hundred times before. But after what he had said to her at the venue, maybe she got it. Maybe she knew how he felt.

Jace paid the cab fare and once again held the door open for Clary to get out. She gave him a small smile before ducking her head and walking toward their building. She must have taken the pins in her hair out, because it was now falling around her shoulders and down her back. There were all these kinks and curls in the smooth waterfall from the way it had been held up all day, and Jace really wanted to reach out and touch them, tug on a curl until the soft strands were threaded through his fingers. He fought the urge by shoving his hands into his pockets and keeping his head lowered as they took the elevator up to their floor.

Their apartment was a bit of a mess, after the boys had been rushing around to get ready this morning, even though they had had plenty of time to actually get dressed, they had just left it all to the last minute, as per usual. It had caused a lot of distress on Magnus' behalf.

"Uh, Jace?" Clary finally said, looking over at him.

"Mm?" Jace hummed out, focussing his eyes on a patch of worn through carpet directly beside his foot.

"About what you said..." she drifted off, and Jace chanced a look at her. She was back to biting her lip and playing with a strand of hair, twisting it around and around her finger, a habit of hers when she was nervous. "I just—" she broke off again and made a frustrated noise in her throat. Jace felt the lump in his throat grow as he realized that he didn't actually want to hear what she had to say. If she was having this much trouble putting words together, then it probably wasn't something that he was going to like.

"Hey, don't worry about it," Jace forced out a smile as he toed off his shoes. "It's been a long day, how about we just talk in the morning?" He was already starting toward his room, not waiting for Clary to reply. She didn't say anything, and Jace felt such a crushing weight on his chest that he had to forcibly gulp down breaths so that he could actually get air in his lungs. He finally reached his room and shut the door behind him.

What if he lost her?

That wasn't even something he could bear to think about right now.

His fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, fumbling a couple of times before he finally managed to pull it open and rip it off, tossing it toward the corner of the room. Usually he was all about being tidy and folding everything up or putting it carefully in his washing basket, except today he just didn't care. He wanted to fall into bed and sleep for the next few days, pretending that the last week and a half hadn't happened.

"Jace?" There was a hesitant knock on the door, and for a split second, Jace considered not answering it. But Clary was standing on the other side, waiting for him, and he couldn't ignore her. He braced himself for the worse as he walked over and opened the door, his hand tightening around the handle.

"Yeah?" He asked her.

"Did you mean what you said?" She asked him, meeting his eyes determinedly, her chin pushed forward. "Did you mean what you said in the way that I think you meant it?" The sentence was cryptic and Jace's brain was too tired to try and decipher it.

"I don't know Clary, how do you think I meant it?" He murmured tiredly, leaning his head against the side of the door.

"That you like me," she stated, the words coming out of her mouth before she seemed to think about them because then her eyes widened almost comically and she shoved her lips back together and swallowed hard. Jace stared back at her, and he didn't doubt for a moment that his eyes were just as big as hers. The silence stretched between them and it wasn't the silence that had been going on for the past few days where it felt awkward and uncomfortable.

This silence crackled with an electricity that made Jace's skin break out in goosebumps and his blood rush straight to his cock.

"Yes," he breathed out. "I like you." Clary's lips twitched upward and then she was lunging forward and pressing their mouths together. Jace wasn't too sure what he was expecting, because he had purposefully being trying not to think about what she would feel like if he ever got the chance to kiss her, but it wasn't this.

Maybe he thought it would be some earth shattering experience or they would fit together like two puzzle pieces, but it wasn't quite like that.

Their teeth knocked together, and then their noses bumped together, and Clary let out a little frustrated noise at the back of her throat which made Jace want to smile. He finally seemed to catch up with the program, and he dropped his hands to her hips, tugging her toward him and canting his head to the side so that when their mouths came back together, there was no awkward bumps.

And then it all just seemed to fall together.

Clary sighed against his lips as his hands cupped her jaw, brushing his thumbs over her cheekbones, so gently that she shuddered in his arms. He was holding her like she was so delicate that she might break, and it made tears flood to the corners of her eyes. He kissed her slowly, opening his mouth but not licking inside, wanting to savor every second she would give him.

When her fingers settled on the buckle of the belt holding up his tuxedo pants he jerked a little and pulled back to look at her properly. The pupils of her eyes were so blown that there was only a sliver of green around the outside, and she was biting down on her lower lip, gaze flickering between his mouth and then back to meet his eyes.

"You're sure?" Jace asked her, his thumbs continuing to stroke her face, massaging lightly at the dip of her jaw, underneath her ear.

"Yeah," Clary nodded, curling her fingers into his belt and tugging a little. Jace smiled before his hands trailed down her neck, and then moving around to her dress to find the clasp. It took two attempts, because it was one of the awkward hook and eye contraptions, then he managed to release the clasp and pull down the hidden zipper, and she was suddenly only standing in front of him in a strapless white bra and white underwear.

He swallowed hard, taking half a step back so that he could appreciate her fully.

Her cheeks reddened a little and Jace wanted to tell her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about, but instead he just leaned forward to catch her lips again, pulling her onto the bed on top of him. They kissed some more, while her hands worked at his belt and then the button and zipper of his pants. At some point, one of them hit the light switch beside his bed, and the only light was coming from the moon and the lights outside through the open curtains. They rolled over, so that Clary was underneath him, and her hair was splayed out, dark against his pale pillow, and he had to take another minute to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" Clary asked, sounding a little nervous as her fingers tracked down his torso, fingers feather light and doing all sorts of crazy things to his body and his head.

"Perfect," Jace whispered honestly, rubbing his nose against the curve of her neck and pressing a kiss to her shoulder. When he finally sunk inside of her, Clary's breathy sighs and murmurs of his name filling the room, Jace knew that there was no other word to describe how he was feeling.

 _Right! So the movie I definitely recommend this time around is_ Gifted _with Chris Evans. It's amazing, both me and my hubby got a little teary in it. And_ Hacksaw Ridge, _which honestly deserved every award and nomination it received, I got pretty teary in that one as well._ Also _on the movie related topic, I should have mentioned it earlier, but I've been watching the_ American Assassin _trailer on repeat pretty much since it came out! Dylan O'Brien is just...Ashffnjpff. Beautiful. Lol._

 _Shifting onto music, we got tickets to go to Ed Sheeran! It's, like, a year away, but I'm soooo psyched. He was absolutely incredible last time I saw him live, and I can't wait to go again. And a song I would recommend would be_ Glitter and Gold _by Barns Courtney and both_ Hold On _and_ Homeland _by Chord Overstreet. Heard it on Lea Michele's snapchat and I had to look it up as soon as I got home, and I can't believe he's still singing! I absolutely loved Sam in Glee, and he's still got such a beautiful voice._

 _Anyway! Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Loved it, hated it, your favourite part...Leave a review, and let me know xx_


	14. Chapter 14

When Jace woke up the next morning, he knew that something was off because the sun was shining brightly on his face, and that meant that his curtains were open. And that meant there was something had happened last night, because he always remembered to close the curtains or else he got woken up at a ridiculous early hour. But it didn't feel early, he felt well rested, and then he felt movement beside him and he tipped his head forward and saw a head resting on his chest, dark red hair spilling over his tanned torso.

Clary.

He couldn't stop the grin that felt like it was going to split his face in half as he leaned back into the pillow, closing his eyes so that he could savor this moment. The door was partly open, but they didn't need to worry about their roommates walking in, because they were all away. There was still a lingering scent of sex in the air, along with Clary's perfume, and he really hoped that it was getting stuck in his sheets and his duvet because he didn't want the smell to leave when she did.

Jace felt himself drift in and out of sleep, and the next time he was properly conscious of his surroundings, Clary was awake beside him. She hadn't spoken or even really moved, but he felt her body tense against his and he blinked his eyes open, trying to clear away the blurriness from sleep.

"Morning," he said to her, his voice raspy from disuse.

"Morning," her own voice was muffled from where her face was pressed into his chest. He liked the way she sounded, and the way her breath was hot against his skin. For a long stretch of time, neither of them said anything, but then Clary rolled away from him, up against the wall, and stared at the ceiling. Jace would be lying if his eyes didn't dip downward, skimming over her breasts which were now on display, and then further down, over the smooth skin of her stomach until the rest of her was hidden by a sheet. There were a couple of red marks on her chest and a purpling bruise on her neck, from where he had sucked at the skin. His eyes reached her face again, and that was when he felt the softness of the new day quickly fade, because she was frowning, and her lips were pressed together.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I, uh," Clary made a noise as she cleared her throat, looking away from him as her hands went to the sheet, tugging it upwards so that more of her was covered. Jace glanced down, and her hands were clenched into fists, holding the sheet tightly, her knuckles white.

"Clary?" Jace rolled over so that he was facing her properly, and lifted himself up on his elbow. He wanted to touch her, to put his hand on her arm or rest it on her stomach over the sheet, but from the way she drew in a sharp breath as he got closer to her, he had a feeling that it wasn't going to help things. "Clary, what's wrong?"

"This was a mistake, Jace," she blurted out, her eyes flitting around the room. "We shouldn't have— _I_ shouldn't have come in here last night." Jace felt a cold jab in the pit of his stomach as he stared down at her.

"No, it wasn't," he said, trying to keep his voice calm. "It wasn't a mistake." Clary took in another breath, her chest rising and falling, before she finally looking at him.

"Jace, we should have at least talked about this before we did... _This_ ," she waved a hand between them, which was probably indicating their naked bodies. "In the cab on the way back here, I kept telling myself that we weren't going to talk last night, we were going to wait until the morning when our brains weren't all wedding fuzzy."

"Wedding fuzzy?" Jace frowned at her. "I didn't sleep with you because of any damn _wedding_ , Clary," he was annoyed, and clearly it showed in his voice. She reached out with one hand, touching his shoulder softly.

"No, I know, just..." she licked her lips and then the hand that had been on his shoulder went to her hair and started doing that thing were she tugged and twirled it around a finger. "You know that Sebastian is the first person that I have slept with in just under a year, right?" Jace pursed his lips together.

"I really don't want to be talking about you sleeping with some other guy while we're still in my bed, Clary," Jace said tightly.

"No, I just meant...Before Sebastian, the guy that I was sleeping with was Liam, and we dated for almost eight months," Clary told him. Jace didn't actually realize that it had been that long for her, although it made sense. They had all had one night stands, some more frequently than others. But it had been a while since Clary had brought anyone back...He didn't realize quite _how_ long it had been though. He definitely remembered Liam, though. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and Simon and Alec had seemed to like him, but there had just been something about him that Jace and Magnus hadn't fully got on board with. He got a little controlling of her time and he didn't like it when she had to work most weekends. Which was ridiculous, because that was when most of her events were on. He hadn't been upset when the two of them had gone their separate ways. "What I'm trying to say is...I don't really _do_ casual sex."

"Is that what you think this is to me?" Jace touched his thumb to the corner of her mouth. "Is that all you think you mean to me?" For a second there, he saw her falter. Her lips parted softly, and he really just wanted to kiss her again. Kiss her like he had been kissing her last night, and not continue this conversation. But then she gathered her resolve again and she shifted her head slightly, so that his thumb slid across her cheek, away from her lips.

"No, I don't—I didn't mean it like this," she was getting frustrated at herself, at the fact that she couldn't put what she was feeling into words. "I just meant that Sebastian is the only person—or, sorry, the only person _in a long time_ —that I've had sex with and not been in a relationship with." Jace's eyebrows pulled together a little, but it made sense. Clary was in absolutely no way a prude, but she didn't sleep around. "And with you," her breathing hitched. "And with you it could never just be some, I don't know, some friends with benefit type of thing."

"Clary, I get that," Jace gave her a smile he hoped was encouraging.

"But what about that girl from your work?" She asked, her hands twisting at the sheet.

"What girl?" Jace tilted his head to the side, completely confused.

"The one you're sleeping with...The one who was at Sebastian's birthday," she replied and Jace sighed, remembering Seelie. "He told me that you guys were sleeping together." He felt a rush of anger toward his work colleague, but then it's not like he had told Clary anything that wasn't truth.

"We have slept together, yeah," Jace shrugged. "But it doesn't mean anything. And it's not—it's just sex—" as soon as he said the words, he realized that they probably weren't the right ones to say. Clary's face instantly closed down and she was shifting further away from him, making a move to sit up. He sighed and tried to grab her hand. "Wait, Clary—you know what I mean—"

"I know, I know," Clary sat up and pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her forehead on one of them, taking in deep breaths. Jace placed his hand on her back, rubbing up and down her spine lightly. He knew that it always made her feel better when she had her back rubbed, and he really hoped that this wasn't going to be the last time he was able to do this to her.

It was ridiculous, really, to be thinking that right now.

After sleeping together and altering their friendship completely, and what he was thinking about now was if he needed to memorize every dip and notch in her spine because it could be last time he was able to help her feel better by doing this.

"I just can't get my hopes up again, it's like the Kaelie thing all over again," she mumbled against her leg and Jace's hand stilled on her back.

"Wait, what? Kaelie? As in, back in high school _Kaelie_?" Clary just shook her head slightly before turning her head to look at him.

"I like you, Jace," she stated, her voice strong.

"I like you too, Clary," Jace assured her, although he still sounded a bit confused as his hand starting to move against her skin.

"And I want to be with you," she continued, never letting his gaze go.

"So do I," Jace said the words before thinking about them and then he thought about what that comment meant and his eyebrows pulled together. It was only a micro-expression, and he smoothed it out almost immediately, but there was no covering up anything when it came to Clary. She knew him too well. She was already moving off the bed and looking for her underwear and bra before his brain stopped stuttering in his head. "Clary..."

"When did you even start to like me, Jace?" She asked, holding her long dress from last night in front of her, covering her naked body.

"I don't—" he let out a huff of laughter and threw his hands up in the air. "I honestly don't have an answer to that question."

"Okay, well, when did you _realize_ you liked me?" She re-phrased, her fingers tightening around her clothes. Jace stared at her, at how her make up from last night was smudged around her eyes, at how her lips were bright red from her nervous biting, at the hickey he had left on her neck last night.

"A couple of days ago," he admitted quietly. Clary nodded, as though she knew the answer, although there was still a flash of hurt in her eyes.

"And are you really ready to be in a relationship with someone you only just admitted to yourself to liking?" She asked him softly. Jace sighed and scratched a hand through his hair. "Because the way that I feel about you, Jace? It's nothing new." She wasn't quite ready to tell him that she had had these feeling since she was about fourteen years old, but by the way she had slipped up with Kaelie's name earlier, it wasn't going to be too hard for him to figure out when he was analyzing the conversation later in his head. "And relationships? They're nothing new to me either. But I know for a fact that you've never had a _serious_ relationship, so this is all new to you," she began backing toward the door. "I think we both need, uh, some space." Jace sighed but didn't make a move to stop her, because if Clary wanted space, then he could give that to her.

But he needed to make sure she knew one thing first.

"Clary?" Jace called out to her just before she pulled his door shut, and she paused. "I would never hurt you," his golden eyes burned with sincerity. "That's never something I want to do." Clary's chin wobbled slightly before she nodded and quickly shut the door, and he could hear her walking to her room.

Jace let out a growl and flopped back down on his bed.

 _Now, my favourite songs at the moment are_ No Promises _by Cheat Codes and Demi Lovato,_ Hold On For Your Life _by Sam Tinnesz (holy shit, yes, so many times_ yes _, I absolutely love this song) and also_ Unsteady _by X-Ambassadors. With_ Unsteady _, I also completely push you to go onto Youtube and search the song and then 'DanceOn' to watch the dance video. Holy shit. My heart. Every. Single. Time. I watch this video. So give that a watch and let me know what you think :)_

 _The latest movies I've seen are_ John Wick 2 _...Not a fan of Keanu Reeves, but I fucking love these movies...And then the latest_ Pirates of the Caribbean _. I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but me and my hubby were very happy with the end. We were like, if just one thing happened, we would be happy. And then it happened! Also watched_ Miss Sloane _. I absolutely love Mark Strong, and although I'm not the biggest fan of Jessica Chastain, she did an amazing job. And then, holy shit, and then_ Wonder Woman _. Omg. The DCEU finally did it! This was such an incredible movie! I've been in love with Gal Gadot for years and she did such an amazing job!_

 _Have any of you guys watched_ Famous In Love _? I'm really not a fan of Bella Thorne, but I've heard that the show is pretty good. Anyone watched it? Let me know if it's worth checking out? Ooh, and a special shout out to reppinda5o3 for watching_ Riverdale _and also lima17 for watching_ Sense8 _! More people to fangirl with. And also to Caaatttt for getting tickets to Ed Sheeran! Yeeeeah, girl! Just a year away, but we got this ;)_

 _OMG, and props to President Macron and his winning handshake ;) I'm loving the memes that have come out of that. Along with the meme's that have come out of 'covfefe'._

 _Also, a lot of people have been asking me about stories that I'm planning on writing, or posting in the future around Clace. If you want to talk about those or just generally fangirl with me, send me a message :)_

 _Leave a review, let me know what you think xx_


	15. Chapter 15

_We don't have too many chapters of this story left, I think about six or seven?_

Clary had to get out of the apartment.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Jace to give her some time, but being in the apartment just felt a little like she was suffocating.

So she got dressed, changing into a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt, pulling on a pair of shoes, and then left the apartment. It was almost midday, she was surprised by how late they had slept, although to be fair, they didn't get back to the apartment until almost two, and then there was the whole sex thing, which had taken some time.

Her whole body was humming with appreciation right now.

Sure, it hadn't been that long since she had had sex with Sebastian, and it had been good, but it had been nothing like this.

Her teenage self would be over the moon right now, and probably attempting to write poetry about the gold in Jace's eyes and the way his tongue felt against her neck.

Everything with Jace was amplified ten fold because of the way that she felt about him, and she had been such an idiot to think that she would be able to push these feelings down. These past few years, attempting to ignore all of the little sparks across her skin and flutters in her stomach, had been hard, but there was no way that she was going to be able to pretend it all away now.

Not since she now _knew_ what it felt like to be touched by him—properly touched.

Clary shook her head and shoved her hands into the pockets of her sweatshirt, curling them into fists and ducking her head forward. It was getting colder, the weather around her, and it wasn't going to be long until they got into Winter. She should probably have grabbed a warmer sweatshirt, but at least she had remembered her wallet, so she could always go into a coffee house if she got too cold.

Maybe she had been too harsh on Jace. She hadn't really given him all that much of an option as she had hustled herself out of the bedroom, but the instant she had woken up, it felt as though her heart had started beating at double time. He had started touching her idly, his fingers tracing patterns on her skin, and she had panicked shifting away from him.

She couldn't help it, but she felt as though she was back in her room as a teenager, that night of the party, sitting on the bed next to a drunk Jace. When he had reached out and touched her hand, holding it tightly, her body had felt as though it was on fire. She wasn't sure what was going on, all she knew was that the boy that she liked was reaching out for her and holding her hand, and she thought for the first time maybe she had a chance. Sure, Jace didn't ignore her so much and brush her off as Jon's baby sister, but they weren't close.

They didn't hold hands.

And then she had been gone for three minutes tops, and come back to see Kaelie writhing on top of him.

Clary pursed her lips together as she remembered the sight of the two of them on her bed. She had slept in her parents room that night, and the next morning she waited until everyone had left their house before even going back into her bedroom. The top duvet was a little wrinkled, which could have just been from people sitting on it, but that didn't matter. She stripped the sheets and the covers and even the pillow cases, and dumped them all in the washing machine. Then she had poured far too much washing liquid in, and put it on a wash cycle.

Twice.

Jace had come back over that night for dinner with Jon, and they had said that she could have pizza with them, but she had shrugged it off, saying that she wasn't hungry. It was a lie, and when she had come back down to get some toast, she had heard Jace and Jon talking.

They were talking about Kaelie.

Jon was laughing, and saying that Kaelie had been walking around, asking people if they had seen Jace, and then she had disappeared. He had asked Jace if the cheerleader if she had found him, and Jace had said last night was pretty blurry, but there was a couple of kisses exchanged with the hot blonde. Jon asked if anything else had happened and Jace had said no, it was just a make out session. He knew better than to put his dick in her, given she wanted an actual relationship, and she was the kind of chick who would get clingy after sex.

Clary had been glad that they hadn't had sex, but the way that he had cringed at 'actual relationship' made her stomach twist a little.

As the years went by, there were long stretches of time when she wouldn't see Jace. She couldn't help it, though, on the occasions where she did see him, those feelings flared back up. She got better at masking them, and she had buried them, telling herself that they were better off friends. Sometimes she would tell herself that maybe they could give it a go, that Jace wasn't that guy that he had been back in high school, but one of the problems with living with Jace meant she knew what he was like. He still bounced between girls, and even though it had been a while since he had brought anyone back, there was Seelie. She had no idea how long that whole thing had been carrying on—she hadn't even known that there had been someone! Maybe that was why it had felt like a punch in the stomach when she had found out about her.

Clary sighed as she pushed open the door to a cafe, ordering a panini and a coffee, and finding a spare table right at the back in the corner, where she could huddle and read trashy magazines until her head calmed down.

She knew that she couldn't hold it against him, something that had happened when they were teenagers, and when he was drunk, and when he had no idea how she felt about him. He hadn't owed her anything then, no explanation or loyalty.

And she believed him when he said that he never wanted to hurt her.

But just knowing that didn't magically make everything better; she needed time to process.

* * *

The disappointment on Magnus' face was clear when the two boys got home from their extended weekend away. It was a Tuesday afternoon when they got back, while the other three roommates were at the work, and Alec had cooked them all dinner, so that when they had got back home, the apartment smelt amazing.

Jace doesn't at all doubt moving in with a chef.

He does, however, have second thoughts about moving in with Magnus, who was so ridiculously observant that it just took one glance and he knew that things between Jace and Clary weren't resolved. Alec could tell as well, of course, and his eyes flickered over to Jace, but he pursed his lips together and looked away again. Simon got home the same time in the afternoon as when Clary got back, and Jace wasn't sure if she had told him what happened, but Simon looked stoic and wouldn't meet Jace's eyes.

They all pretended that nothing was wrong, just like they had been for the past week or so, but the tension was even worse than before. Clary and Jace refused to look at each other, and Magnus and Simon weren't able to carry the conversation after ten or so minutes had past.

"Okay, this is just fucking ridiculous," Magnus finally growled, slamming down his fork on the table and making Clary jump in her seat. Alec looked a little surprised by the out burst but didn't say anything. "I don't know what's going on, but it's like whatever was going on _before_ is even _worse_ now—" suddenly he broke off and was frowning, and everyone was staring at him. He was staring at Clary, his eyes narrow, and she glanced from side to side.

"What?" She asked, her voice faltering.

"You have a hickey," he said bluntly, pointing at her neck. Clary's cheeks flushed red and she clapped a hand over her neck to cover the mark. The shirt she had worn today had a high collar, and she had thought that she had still managed to keep it hidden, but it must have slipped down as the day had gone on. Jace swallowed hard as Magnus' accusing eyes turned toward him. "So the pair of you slept together and _still_ didn't sort your shit out?!"

"Magnus," Alec's tone was warning.

"No, this is just ridiculous! Come on! You two have been pining after each other for _years_ , and then some shit happens between you guys and it gets weird and _then_ you sleep with each other and it gets even _weirder_?!" Magnus was almost shouting now, and Jace visibly flinched. "This isn't high school! Sort your shit out!" Clary slammed her palms down on the edge of the table, pushing her chair back and getting up, storming down the hallway toward her room and the door slapping shut behind her.

"Well..." Simon swallowed hard as he glanced around the table, reaching over to pick up the glass bowl of mashed potatoes. Alec made the best mashed potatoes. "Potatoes, anyone?" He asked awkwardly.

 _I haven't really watched any movies since I last updated, but I've been binging this TV show called_ Bitten _, recommended by the lovely reppinda5o3, who has now moved on from recommending fics to TV shows! I'd be lost without her. It's not award winning or anything, but I really wanted another werewolf show to watch, and so it definitely scratched that itch. If that's the sort of thing you're into, definitely check it out if you haven't already._

 _On the music side of things, I've had_ Crying in the Club _by Camila Cabello on repeat for, like, the past week. I fucking loooooove it. I was never a fan of Fifth Harmony, but I absolutely adore this song. Also_ Power of Love _by Gabrielle Aplin, which I heard ages ago, but then I heard it on something recently and put it back on my phone and have just had it playing everyday on the way to and from work. It's just...It's just so pretty and makes my heart ache just a little._

 _Also on the subject of music, the One Love Manchester concert that Ariana Grande got together...All of those artists coming together and so quickly after the horrible event was beautiful. My heart went out to Ariana, she was really having a hard time holding it together. And Miley Cyrus was a beautiful human, as per usual. A lot of people are trying to drag the event through the mud, saying that worse things happen all the time, saying that she is just doing it for attention...Come on, just accept a nice, good thing. Our world is full of shit, horrible things, we have to love and accept the good when it comes along xx_

 _Anyway! Please make sure you leave a few words, let me know what you guys thought of the chapter. Just a couple of words make the hard work worth it! And make sure to let me know if you want a preview xx_


	16. Chapter 16

_Hey, guys! A little bit of a lengthy AN here, sorry. So, as we all know, real life unfortunately has to come first, even if I would love to just binge watch my favourite shows, with my kitties and my hubby, and type away all day. Anyway, I've gotten a new job, which I start in a few weeks time, and the hours are a lot better than the one I'm doing now, but it will take some adjusting to, and learning all new stuff, which means my brain will be a little fried at the end of the day. Also, there's some problems with my husband and his job, and recently a friend's younger brother committed suicide, which has caused a few stresses with my group of friends._

 _Bottom line is that my updating is going to be changing a little, just for the next few months, hopefully, until everything has evened back out again. So any stories that are on my regular updating schedule will be getting updated once a month, and any that aren't on the regular schedule, well, they'll be updated every few months._

 _Sorry about this guys, but that's just the way life goes some time. I appreciate your understanding and love xx_

It had been five days since Clary and Jace had slept together, and they hadn't said a word to each other. Clary wasn't too sure how she felt about it—she had told him that she needed space and that was what he was giving to her. She wasn't going to be one of those girls that got all petulant because a guy was actually _doing_ what she had asked, and so she bit her tongue and busied her mind. It was almost eight o'clock in the evening, and she was curled up on her bed with music playing from her stereo in the corner of the room, and working on the photos that she had taken before Helen and Aline's wedding. She hadn't had a chance to work on them yet because she had had events every day this weekend, other than the Sunday after the wedding. Her phone rang and Clary reached for it blindly, running a filter over one of the photos that she had taken of Helen and her father.

"Hello?" She said absentmindedly into the phone.

"Clary!" Isabelle greeted her and Clary cringed a little. She hadn't spoken to Isabelle since everything with Jace had happened, and she didn't doubt for a second that Simon had told his girlfriend about the incident over dinner, where Magnus had pointed out her hickey. "No, I'm not calling to eat your ass out for details about your little rendezvous," Isabelle continued and Clary winced again. "I'm calling to ask if you've come to a decision yet, about the apartment."

"Oh, right," Clary took in a deep breath and pushed her laptop away, propping one of her throw pillows behind her so she could lean comfortably against the wall. "Yeah, I've been thinking about it."

"Have you got a decision yet?"

"Is it okay if I tell you by Sunday? Just give me a few more days," Clary replied.

"Yeah, that's totally fine, hun," Isabelle assured her. "And don't feel pressured to say yes, it's just you were my first thought," she paused for a long moment. "And maybe it would be a good thing to think about, given what's going on in that apartment of yours, and with a certain hot blondie."

"Thought you weren't going to push for details," Clary teased back lightly, although she felt a little tense.

"I'm not," Isabelle protested with a half laugh. "Or at least, I'm not at the moment. I most definitely will be at some point."

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Clary told her friend. "Okay, I'll tell you by Sunday, yeah?"

"Sure thing, babe," Isabelle said before the call was ended. Clary sighed as she stared down at her phone, tapping her finger against the edge, and then almost jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She frowned as the door opened and then Jace poked his head around the corner, looking nervous and a little tired. He was still wearing his suit pants from work, and a lavender button down shirt, with a couple of buttons undone. His hair was doing all sorts of funny things, which tended to happen after he had run his fingers through it over and over again.

It was pathetic how good looking Clary thought he looked.

"Hey," she said tentatively.

"Hey," Jace licked his lips nervously. "Do you mind if I come in?" Clary nodded and shifted over on her bed, moving the laptop onto the bedside table to make room for him. He touched his finger to the dial of her stereo to turn the volume down before sitting down on the edge of the bed. He turned his body half around so that he could face her and took in a deep breath, giving her a tense smile. "So, you're working on the photos from the wedding?" He asked, gesturing at her laptop, where there were a few photos showing on the screen.

"Uh," Clary's eyebrows knitted together in confusion, following his gaze to the computer. "Yeah." Jace nodded a few times, and she almost smiled at how adorably nervous he was.

"Look, you're one of my best friends," he blurted out in a huff of a breath. "And I don't want to hurt you—that's something I said to you the other day, and it's true. Hurting you is literally the last thing I want to do. And...I don't want to loose you as a friend. That comes before _anything_ else, including us being—being more." Clary licked her lips as she stared at him, glad that he wasn't expecting a response from her because she wasn't too sure what to say right now. "But I...I like you. I _like_ you, Clary," he swallowed hard and reached out for her, linking their fingers together and squeezing. "It's possibly...It's possibly more than that, but that's just way too fucking scary for me to even consider right now." Clary let out a surprised laugh at that and Jace blinked in surprise at her, the tension in his shoulders seeming to drain a little now that he knew that she wasn't angry at him. "Maybe it took me a while to catch onto it, but I'm here now, and I really want to see where things go."

"Wh—" Clary tilted her head to the side. "What do you mean?" She _thought_ she knew what he meant, but she needed him to be the one to say, to put it into words. Jace was staring at her, he was chewing down on his lower lip but his gaze was steady on hers.

"I want to be with you," his words were drawn out, as though tasting them for the first time. But from the way he sighed with relief and nodded, maybe they didn't taste as bad on his tongue as he thought they might. "I want to be with you," he repeated. "Properly." Clary tightened her fingers around his, and he began to rub his thumb against the back of her hand. He was staring at her anxiously, and Clary realized that this was the part where she was definitely meant to say something in response.

"Are you sure?" She asked, and was surprised by the question. Jace's hand didn't loosen around hers and he nodded firmly.

"I mean...It's not something I've ever done before, but it's something that I want to do...With you," the sentence sounded a little awkward and Clary raised an eyebrow at him and they both let out tense laughs. When they fell quiet, Clary took in a deep breath and leaned away from Jace, needing to put some breathing room between them, even if it was just a few inches, and she folded her arms across her chest, pulling her hand away from his.

"I've had a thing on you for—for a _really_ long time," she admitted, dropping her eyes to look at the swirls and flowers on her duvet cover, her cheeks burning pink at her admission. "I had a crush on you pretty much all of high school, when you would be over at our house with Jon." She tensed her arms over her chest, ducking her head forward a little so that her hair fell around her face. "And there was this one night..." she took in a deep breath and met his eyes again. "There was this one night where I thought that maybe something was going to happen between us." Jace frowned in confusion, tilting his head to the side. "It was the night our parents went out of town and Jon threw that party. You had had a fight with your dad or something before you came over, and I found you in my room."

Jace remembered, at least vaguely. He remembered going into her room, knowing that there was no way anyone from the party would go into Clary's room, because Jon would give them a dressing down for invading his sisters personal space. And he remembered her coming in and sitting with him and holding his hands, and feeling settled and calm next to her.

"I came in and there was this..." she sighed. "I don't know, there was this moment, or something between us. The more I thought about it going forward, and over the past few years—" she let out a self-deprecating chuckle. "Well, the more I thought about it, the more I decided that it was just me reading to far into it. I was a sixteen year old girl with a crush on an older, popular guy and I was just seeing more into that there was," she glanced up at him. "Which made sense that when I came back into the room, the older, popular guy was on my bed, making out with Kaelie, the head of the cheerleading squad."

Actually, he remembered that as well. He didn't really put it all together, he went to a lot of parties in high school, and there were lots of nights that were sort of just blurry and a bunch of snapshots. The way he felt with Clary, holding her hand, had felt innocent and sweet. The way he had felt with Kaelie, well, he actually didn't really remember what that had felt like. It had been so long ago. But, knowing who Kaelie had been and how he had felt about her back in high school, it was probably just about getting off, although he knew that he had never had actual sex with the girl. It felt as though the two things had happened on completely separate nights.

"The next day, I heard you talking to my brother," Clary continued. "And you were saying that there was no way you were going to have sex with her because she was the kind of girl who would get clingy if you, uh, quote 'put your dick in her' unquote." Jace cringed at the phrase, even though it sounded like something that his teenage self would say. "And, I mean, I get it in relation to Kaelie, because that chick was a total fucking bitch back in high school," she made a little snorting noise as she tried to make situation lighter, but the corners of her mouth were tight. "But you had never been in a relationship with anyone before, and so to me...It just sort of sounded like that was your blanket feeling toward all girls. So I tried to get over you, and ignore the way that I felt." Jace's eyebrows pulled together.

"I was an asshole kid, I get that," Jace admitted. "But I'm not the same person anymore. And it's not fair if the reason behind your decision today is based on that person." He already had a sinking feeling in his stomach as to what she had decided, just from the way that she had withdrawn into herself, wrapping her arms protectively around her torso.

"You don't know what my decision is," Clary gave him a wry smile.

"Yeah, well, maybe I've never done these relationship things properly before, but I'm pretty sure the fact you haven't given me an answer doesn't mean anything good," he tried not to let his nervousness show through his voice. Clary licked her lower lip before shifting forward and kissing him on his cheek.

"I need to think about it, okay? Please?" She swallowed hard and gave him pleading eyes and there was no way that he could say no.

"Sure," he choked out, getting off her bed and shoving his hands into her pockets. He turned around because he couldn't keep looking at her face, and pulled the door closed behind him...

...And was promptly met by Alec.

"Look, Alec, I'm really not in the mood—"

"Hey, I've been staying out of this mess," his best friend began. "So I'm gonna say my piece now, and then we're gonna move on, and leave the dramatics to Magnus."

"I heard that!" Came a shout from the bedroom opposite Clary's, the door wide open, so Magnus could hear their conversation from where he was sitting on his shared bed with Alec.

"Yeah, yeah," a smirk pulled at Alec's mouth. "So I never thought I would see the day where you're the one practically begging to be in a relationship."

"Was I that loud in there?" Jace frowned, a little embarrassed that the rest of the apartment might have heard his speech.

"No," Alec shook his head. "It's just the apartment has been reeking of desperation for days, so I figured you finally manned up. I mean, it's been a long time coming, but I wasn't sure if you were actually gonna go through with it." Jace gave him a half smile and glanced down at the ground. "Okay, well, I just wanted to say—you're my best friend and all, but I fucking love Clary, and if you hurt her, I will go all Hannibal Lectar on your ass and serve you up to my customers."

 _The songs I would recommend this time around are_ The Other Side _by Ruelle,_ Unpredictable _by Olly Murs and_ Professional Rapper _by Little Dicky—watch the video for this one as well! I've got tickets to go see the new Spiderman movie this Friday! Pretty psyched about it. And on the subject of Zendaya, have you guys seen the trailer for_ The Greatest Showman _? Holy shit, she looks fucking gorgeous in it, the whole trailer does, really. Even by hubby thinks it looks amazing._

 _Let me know what you guys think of the chapter, and feel free to recommend songs or any fics :) xx_


	17. Chapter 17

_Alright—an update! It feels like forever, updating only once a month is so weird! I will get back to a more regular updating schedule soon, I just really need to adjust to my new working life. So on with the next chapter..._

"Pizza!"

"Thai!"

"Chinese!"

"Pizza—fuck you all!"

"We had pizza the other night!"

"Alec could cook?"

"No—screw you! I cooked the other night! _Plus_ I cook pretty much every other day of my life!"

"Thai!"

Clary couldn't help but grin around at her roommates. Simon and Magnus were getting so riled up about their suggestions for dinner that they were now kneeling on the couch and arm chair that they were respectively on. She was hugging a cushion close to her chest as she glanced around at the boys, her eyes then moving to settle on Jace, who was sitting at the opposite end of the couch from her. Usually they would sit a whole lot closer to each other, but this was better than it had been for the past week, when they had barely even wanted to be in the same room as each other.

Maybe things weren't completely solved between them, but they were getting better.

"I vote pizza," Clary piped up, and Jace shot a surprised look over at her, before flashing a grin that made her stomach squeeze.

"See?! Clary's with me on the pizza front!" Jace crowed out and Magnus let a groan, slumping down in his arm chair and folding his arms across his chest petulantly. Jace settled back down in the couch, and Clary didn't miss the way he was just a little bit closer to her.

"Fine," Alec groaned out. "Pizza it is. _Stefano's_?"

"Where else?" Jace smirked. Alec picked up his phone and called in the order while Simon walked over to the TV to pick up the remote, and flipped through their Netflix, trying to find something for them to watch. He hovered over _American Horror Story_ and turned to raise a questioning eyebrow at the rest of the room.

"I think I'm feeling a Disney movie vibe," Clary stated.

"We have such exciting lives," Alec smirked as he hung up the phone with the pizza parlor. "Disney movies and pizza on a Friday night."

"You got a problem with that?" Magnus arched an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

"Absolutely none," Alec grinned and reached over to grab Magnus around to waist and drag him so that he was pressed against his side. "You know I'm always down for Disney," he made a face as he thought for a moment. "The pizza on the other hand, I mean, I was definitely feeling a Chinese vibe—"

"The pizza is not debatable!" Jace cried.

"Dude, I've already ordered it," Alec rolled his eyes and grinned. "Don't worry, the pizza is a go."

"Fuck yeah," Jace looked smug as he looked over at the screen, where Simon was now scrolling through the Family category of Netflix. He hesitated over a couple of the options and then paused over _Tarzan_ and glanced around the room. There was a round of nods and he clicked on the option. He glanced back to the couch, where he had been sitting originally, a spot between Jace and Clary and then chose to sit on the arm chair beside them, leaving them alone on the couch.

The pizza arrived about half an hour later and everyone chipped in to cover the cost. The three pizzas were laid out on the coffee plate, Magnus attempting to get everyone to use plates and napkins and everyone just ducked around his hands and shoved the slices of pizza into their mouths. They got through _Tarzan_ and then _Treasure Planet_ , and as it was inching on eleven o'clock that night, Magnus narrowed his eyes as he looked around at his room mates.

"Alright!" He clapped his hands together and there were jumps of surprise from the others in the room, and a frown of protest from Clary. "Time for bed!"

"What?" Alec gave him a confused look. "I mean, I know I said I liked our boring lives, but going to bed at eleven o'clock on a Friday night might be really pushing it."

"It's time for bed," Magnus repeated, his voice a bit firmer and then he looked over at Simon and jerked his head in the direction of the hallway. "You too, Simon," he said in the same tone. "But not you two," he pointed at Jace and Clary. "You two stay here. You...Discuss," he waved his hand vaguely with a purposeful smirk.

"Oh, but you want me?" Simon put his hand to his chest. "I didn't know you felt that way. I must say, I'm flattered, however my heart belongs to another—"

"You can go to your _own_ bed," Magnus rolled his eyes as he got up. "I don't go for the whole twink thing."

"Hey!" Simon protested as he got up from the armchair he was collapsed in. "I'm not a twink! I've put on a whole lot more muscle in the past few years!" Magnus dragged his eyes up and down Simon's body and then snorted, shaking his head. "Hey! What was that look for?!" Magnus started walking toward the hallway with Simon following after him, still squawking indignantly about this apparent muscle that he had put on. Alec smiled after them fondly and then glanced over at Jace and Clary.

"I'm pretty sure that this is his way of saying that he wants you two to have a conversation," he said, waving a hand between them.

"Oh really?" Jace rolled his eyes. "You think so?" Clary snorted from where she was huddled under a blanket and Jace couldn't stop himself from shooting a grin over in her direction, feeling a bit more relaxed since she didn't seem to be _too_ uncomfortable at the idea of the pair of them being left alone.

"Okay, well," Alec pursed his lips awkwardly and stood up, running his fingers through his hair. It stood up in all sorts of directions, and Jace and Clary both grinned up at him. "I'll see you two in the morning." He followed after Magnus and Simon, and all three of them could still hear them arguing. The only light in the room was coming from the TV, since all the lights were all turned off, and there was a bluish reflection on Clary's face, making it look a bit more harsh than it usually did. Jace nibbled down on his lip and then let out a breath through his nose.

"We can just ignore this awkward tension between us and watch another movie? You know I'm always down for ignoring awkward tension," Jace offered, giving her a wan smile. Clary let out a giggle, which sounded like one of relief, and shook her head.

"No, I...I have something I need to talk to you about," she told him. Jace felt his stomach twist in a way that made him feel sick, worried about what he was going to say. She pushed off where she was leaning against the arm of the couch and reached out for him. Jace felt his body heat as their hands touched. Clary held up her hand, pressing their palms together and then sliding her fingers together, tightening her grip. "I want...To be with you," she said slowly. Jace's eyes went almost comically wide, golden eyes bright, and Clary let out a laugh, dropping her eyes and shaking her head.

"What—no! Don't laugh! This is a serious moment! You don't laugh in moments like this!" Jace cried. "I mean, I've never been in one of these moments, but it doesn't feel like one of those times when you laugh!" And that just made Clary laugh harder, letting her head fall forward against Jace's shoulder. She heard him huff and grumble a couple of times, saying that he was trying to be serious and she was mucking the whole thing up, but despite their awkward position, he never let go of her hand. When she finally stopped laughing, her shoulders no longer shaking, he spoke again. "You want to be with me?" He asked, his voice so soft she could only hear him because his lips were next to her ear.

"Yeah," Clary pulled back and looked at him, only inches away from his face. "Yeah, I want to be with you." A smile spread across his mouth, and he saw her own plush mouth pull upward to match the smile. He leaned forward and bumped his nose against hers softly, and he saw her eyes closed, her never ending eyelashes fluttering.

Jace had to kiss her.

Properly.

Not in the way that meant they were going to rip each others clothes off, but in the slow way, as though they had all the time in the world because if they were going to do this, if they were in this together, then they _did_ have all the time in the world.

"There's one thing though," Clary suddenly said and pulled back from him, breaking the moment.

"What?" Jace blinked at her.

"I'm moving out," the words rushed out and Jace blinked again as he tried to process them.

"You're...What?"

"I'm moving out," Clary licked her lips nervously. "I'm moving in with Izzy," she tilted her head to the side and squeezed his hands. "She asked me to move in with her a while ago because she wants to give Aline and Helen some space, you know, since they're married and all. She asked me before any of this happened between you and me, but I think that maybe...Maybe it's a good idea."

"Really?" Jace groaned out dropping to the side so that he was slumped against the couch. " _Really_?"

"I think that it's a good idea!" Clary cried, leaning back into him. "I mean, we're living together now, but not as a couple, you know? Living together as a couple is like jumping ten steps in a relationship! And neither of us are ready for that." Jace let out another moan, but he sounded more petulant than angry. "I also think it would be a good idea for us to get space, not be in each others faces all the time."

"More _space_?!" Jace was positively pouting now and Clary let out a laugh. "We never needed space before last week, and now it seems to be all we're getting!"

"Well, I don't need space right now," she suggested, biting down on her lower lip and wiggling her eyebrows. "I'm totally down for some spooning."

" _Naked_ spooning?" Jace smirked.

"I'm willing to compromise with underwear and singlet spooning," Clary shot back.

"I'm down for that," Jace grinned as he got off the couch and held out his hands to her. "That still doesn't mean I'm happy about this whole moving out thing." Clary shrugged as he took her hands and he pulled her into a standing position. He twisted his mouth and tilted his head to the side, giving her a long look. "I'm not able to talk you out of it?" His voice dropped to a more serious tone and Clary sighed.

"No, I think it's what's best for us," she told him. "I'll tell everyone else tomorrow, although Simon probably already knows, because I told Izzy a few hours ago." She made a move to walk past him, but he grabbed her elbow and pulled her back.

"Okay, but there's one more thing," he said.

"Mm?" Clary looked up at him expectantly. Jace smiled and leaned down to kiss her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in so that their bodies lined up. She was soft against all the places where his body was muscled, and she smelt so good that it made his toes curl. It was slow, and it was sweet, and it made every nerve ending in Jace's body feel as though it had been electrified.

And he had never been so excited for spooning before.

 _Okay! I've seen a few new movies since the last time I posted._ Spider-Man: Homecoming, _which was amazing. Tom Holland is just too precious for this world, I absolutely loved how they did MJ and Ned was just amazing._ War for the Planet of the Apes _, which was also great, I feel as those movies just got better and better as they went on._ Baby Driver _was awesome, Ansel Elgort is just a babe and I feel as though the whole cast did an amazing job in this one. Last weekend I saw_ Atomic Blonde _and while I absolutely LOVE Charlize Theron, Sofia Boutella and James McAvoy, I just don't feel as though it was as good as I hoped it would be. It was good, but I just...I wanted it to be better? I don't know...This weekend we're seeing_ Dunkirk _, and that's had killer reviews, so I've got my hopes high for this one._

 _On the music front, ever since Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester concert, I've been really getting into Little Mix. I thought they did such a good job there, they were so enthusiastic and they were so energetic and so I actually listened to other songs by them. Before that stage I had only heard_ Wings _and_ Salute _, which I had liked but wasn't totally into. So anyway—I became completely obsessed with them. Completely obsessed. They are so fucking amazing! Their live performances are off the chart! I have no idea how they manage to sing and dance so well! Jesy Nelson is just...Holy shit, a total babe. And then last weekend, a friend of mine messaged me and she had tickets for their concert that same night that she couldn't go to! I didn't even know that they were in my country, and so me and another friend went, and it was absolutely amazing. They are just so fucking incredible. If you haven't listened to them before,_ Touch _and_ Secret Love Song _are my recommended songs. So fucking good._

 _Ooh, also, have you guys watched the short movie,_ In A Heartbeat _? Omg. Right in the feels. I don't know how many times I've watched it now._

 _Anyway—in regards to my actual story, the reason that you're here! I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Please leave a review and let me know what you think, what you liked, what you didn't, etc etc...If you want a preview, let me know, and I'll send it out xx_


	18. Chapter 18

_Hi, my pretties! Updating only once a month feels so weird, I feel like it's been half a year since I've updated! But my life is starting to even out again, and so maybe next month or the one after I'll be able to go back to two monthly updates :) Now, something that I wanted to say, was that I've written up summaries for all the new stories that I'm working on, and I've put them up on my profile. So go check them out and let me know what you think of them! I'm always happy to talk about new stories if you guys have any questions or want to talk :)_

Clary wasn't sure she had ever slept this well before. When she had woken up the first time with Jace, after the wedding when they had slept together, she had felt calm and rested for all of two minutes before she had realized what they had done. But this morning, as her eyes opened and looked at the wallpaper in front of her, with a warm body pressed against her back, she didn't panic at all. She had taken off her bra last night, underneath her singlet, not giving Jace a glimpse underneath. There hadn't been a word of complaint from Jace, which she hadn't really been expecting but still had been nice when he had just grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into the bed.

And now they were laying there, and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her neck and his hand was resting on her stomach, the heat burning through the material and branding her skin. Clary took in a few deep breaths, settling her body backwards against Jace and then couldn't stop her smile when he pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck.

"Morning," his voice was gravelly from sleep and it did all kinds of things to her stomach and between her legs. She clenched her thighs together to ignore the reaction and rolled over to face him. Jace smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her mouth chastely.

"I'm glad you didn't go in full tongue there, buddy," Clary joked lightly as they pulled away. "Because I've lived with you long enough to know that your morning breath is something to be feared, and that would have made this whole situation a little awkward." Jace turned over to look up at the ceiling and let out a laugh, thankfully directing his breath upward rather in her direction.

"I think that maybe I could be on the receiving end of a different pet name," he pointed out. "I may be new to this whole relationship thing, but 'buddy' doesn't seem particularly romantic."

"Hm, you're right," Clary's eyes gleamed. "Schnookums? Honey snuggle? Sweet cheeks?"

"I can actually _feel_ my masculinity dissolving the more you talk," Jace stated and Clary let out a laugh, rolling onto her side and tossing one leg over his waist. It was a casual action, and it was probably one that she had done a hundred times together when they had fallen asleep together on the couch, but this was _different_. Because when he slid his hand around her waist, his hand resting close to her ass, she didn't move away from him or scold him for trying to cop a feel.

"Muffin? Bunny boo? Pudding cup?" She was still teasing and and Jace let out a groan that was almost pained and he dug his fingers into her sides, tickling her, making her squeal and try to jump away from his touch. "No! Stop! Stop!" She tried swatting his hands away, twisting her body in his grasp and laughing.

"Stop being fucking disgusting!" Came a shout from the other side of the hallway, from Magnus and Alec's room. "The whole apartment can hear your gross pet names—and if anyone starts using _honey snuggle_ as an everyday word, I will personally come over there and break someones nose, and that will _really_ put a damper on things!" Clary and Jace looked at each other wide eyes and then started laughing.

"I think Jace works just fine," he compromised and Clary grinned at him. They were quiet for a few moments, and then he touched a finger to her face, running it down her cheek and around to her chin. "When are you going to tell the others? About you moving out?" Clary shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "I should probably do it soon, though. I think Izzy looking at moving out pretty quickly. And it's not like you guys wouldn't be able to cover the rent here, but I still want to give you proper notice, in case you want someone else to move in." Jace snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, right, as if we're gonna want anyone else in here," Jace shook his head. "I mean, I'm not gonna make that decision for everyone, but I'm thinking that the others are gonna want anyone else either." Clary shrugged and then leaned in, bumping their noses together and giving him another kiss.

"Well, maybe I should tell them today. I think we're all around this morning," a smile pulled at her lips. "We know that Magnus and Alec are here." She pulled away from Jace and raised her voice. "Simon! You here?!" There was a long stretch of silence, and so Clary thumped her arm on the wall separating her and Simon's room and then there was a growl of protest.

"Yes! I'm here!" He finally responded, his words slurred with sleep. Clary raised her eyebrows as she rolled back over to look at Jace.

"There we go, everyone's here now," she whispered. "I'll do it this morning." Jace nodded and then looked her up and down, his gaze heated as he slid his hand from her hip around to her ass and gave it a light squeeze.

"Are you sure I couldn't tempt you into staying in bed any longer?" He asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"I'm sure you _could,_ technically," Clary touched her finger to his nose and then squirmed out of his touch and slid off the end of the bed. "However I'm gonna make breakfast." Jace's eyes went wide and he suddenly looked a whole lot more awake, jerking upward as he stared at her.

"You're gonna make blueberry pancakes?" He asked breathlessly.

"I'm gonna make blueberry pancakes," she confirmed with a nod.

"Okay, well, that makes up for not fooling around," he grinned and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, I'm glad you approve," she stated as she looked around for her clothes. It was true that Alec and Jace were the best cooks in the flat, but Clary had perfected blueberry pancakes when she was a teenager and it was a skill that the rest of her friends profited from. She pulled on a pair of sweatpants and then jerked on a bra under the shirt she was wearing before walking to the door. "I'll see you out there," she told Jace with a smile before slipping into the hallway. Jace watched her go, and there was a stupid smile on his face as he laid back in her bed and looked around. The room was all lit up from the morning sun, but it wasn't hazy anymore, it was quite a sharp, yellow light, so it must be pretty late in the morning.

The sound of the other roommates getting up and making their way down to the kitchen was what finally made Jace pull himself out of bed and go to his own bedroom to find a change of clothes. He didn't bother picking up his jeans and sweatshirt from where they were sprawled across Clary's desk, because if he was being completely honest, they sort of looked like they belonged there. He dressed quickly and then walked out to the kitchen and there was a pointed look from Magnus.

"So?" The Indonesian man hummed out over his mug of coffee and looked between Jace and Clary. "You two love birds fuck away all your problems last night?" Clary's cheeks reddened from where she was flipping pancakes and attempting to ignore the teasing. "You know, I've gotta say, Jace, I think that you might be loosing your touch. We didn't hear any moaning or thudding or prayers to God or—"

" _Okay_ , Magnus!" Clary cried. "Thanks for that!" Magnus just smiled smugly and had another drink of his coffee.

"You almost done there?" Simon asked, picking up the large mixing bowl that had held the batter for the pancakes. "Because I'm fucking starving and those smell so good." There was a pile a few inches high of freshly cooked pancakes on the bench by her elbow, and she was swatting at hands when they tried to reach out to snag one.

"What's the occasion?" Alec asked suspiciously from where he was sitting at the dining table, frowning at Clary. There was already syrup, cut fruit and a can of whipped cream on the table, along with a jug of coffee.

"Why does there have to be an occasion?" Clary asked as she scooped out the last few pancakes and put them on the plate, bringing it over to the table and setting it down in the centre.

"Because you pretty much _never_ make breakfast," Simon said. "The last time you did, it was because you broke Magnus' favourite vase."

"And the time before that you ate the last slice of the strawberry and chocolate cheesecake that was meant _for me_ ," Alec grumbled.

"And there was that time when you were tired and put all of our washing in together, and my four hundred dollar leather pants shrunk and I could barely fit my arm inside," Magnus crinkled up his nose.

"Oh!" Jace piped up with a grin. "And when you had a shit week at work and you blew your portion of the rent money on a new pair of shoes and had to bribe all of us to chip in to cover your share." Clary threw him a glare and he just smirked back at her.

"Fine," she made a face as she took a seat at the table and grabbed a few of the pancakes before the boys descended and stole them all. "There was something that I wanted to tell you guys." Magnus glanced over at Alec before concentrating his attention back on Clary, who Alec and Simon were looking at. "I'm moving out," she said abruptly, wincing as she looked around the table at her flat mates.

"Wait, what?" Alec frowned. "I thought you guys just got together?!"

"Shouldn't you be wanting to stay?" Magnus pouted.

"We can always kick Jace out, if it's because of him," Simon jerked his thumb in the direction of Jace, who gave him a dirty look.

"Izzy asked me a while ago, about moving in with her after Helen and Aline got married," Clary continued. "And I think that it's a good idea." Magnus stuck out his lower lip, deepening his pout and Alec narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

"No, really. Simon's right," he said with a smirk toward Jace. "We can totally kick Jace out."

"Hey!" Jace protested. "What did I do?!"

"Are you sure this is what you want, biscuit?" Magnus murmured, dropping the pout off his face and reached across the table to hold her hand. Clary smiled at him and nodded. "Well, then..." he shot one more playful scowl at Jace. "You better make pancakes every weekend til you leave."

 _Sooooo...I saw_ The Hitmans Bodyguard _last weekend with the man and a few friends, and it was fucking hilarious. I definitely recommend. Another movie I watched a week or so ago was_ Below Her Mouth _. It was on Netflix and yeah, okay, it's about 80% sex scenes, but I absolutely fucking loved it. Erika Linder is just...Holy shit, she is fucking beautiful. So both of these, I recommend! One that I'm a little iffy on is_ Friends From College _. My husband and I watched it all in the space of one weekend. The cast was incredible, they're all good actors and they all had so much chemistry with each other—Felix was my absolute favourite—but I felt so, so, so angry at the end. I won't explain it on here because I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't seen it, but shit I was angry at the end!_

 _Now, song wise...Lili Reinhart's cover of_ Wicked Games _. Holy shit. It's absolutely beautiful, and I have played it so many times on Youtube, it's insane. The other songs I've had on repeat recently are_ Havana _by Camilla Cabello,_ Fight Like A Girl _by Zolita and_ Bird _by Billie Marten. I've also put some of my old songs on my phone to play at work, and so I've been listening to Flyleaf—my favourite by them is_ Marionette _._

 _Also, has anyone listened to the song_ 1-800-273-8255 _by Logic, Alessia Cara and Khalid? It's absolutely heart breaking and completely beautiful. Their performance at the VMA's had me all tearing up. Holy shit._

 _As usual—recommend songs, movies, fics in the_ Riverdale _,_ Teen Wolf _and_ Mortal Instruments _categories! Sometimes I do take a while to get around to all your recs, but I do get there! And don't forget to check out the summaries on my profile, and let me know what you think!_

 _Pleeeease leave a review, my beauties! They make me super happy, and I've got a preview for anyone who wants one :) xx_


	19. Chapter 19

_Hey guys, here's the update._

Isabelle had squealed so loudly that Clary had to pull her phone away from her ear. She should probably had told Isabelle _before_ she broke the news to Jace and the boys, but she knew that there wouldn't be any resistance on Isabelle's end of things.

"So have you talked to Aline and Helen on your end? You know anything more about whether they would want the apartment or if they would want to find a place of their own?" Clary asked, resting back against the cushions at the top of her bed.

"Nah, haven't spoken to them. At least not recently. I mentioned it to them a few days before the wedding, just to see what they thought, but nothing since then," Isabelle replied, and there was movement on her end of the phone, so she was probably making herself comfortable. "I'm not going to interrupt their honeymoon. They'll be doing it all over the furniture in their hotel room, probably won't even leave to go to the beach or anything."

"You make a good point," Clary laughed. "You have any preferences then?"

"I actually think we should find our own place," Isabelle suggested. "I mean, the apartment we're in here has four bedrooms, which would be excessive for just the two of us if Aline and Helen wanted to be the ones who move out." Clary let out a groan.

"I know you're right, but apartment hunting fucking _sucks_ ," she complained.

"Yeah, I'm with you on that one," Isabelle agreed. "But come on, we'll make it work," she went quiet for a moment. "So you in?"

"I'm in," Clary replied.

"Yes!" Isabelle cheered and Clary laughed. "Now, I hear you resolved things with Jace?" She quickly continued and Clary rolled her eyes, knowing that either Simon or Magnus must have filled her in. "So, tell me _everything_."

* * *

Isabelle spoke to Aline and Helen more seriously once they got back from their honeymoon, and while they were sad to have their room mate moving out, there was definitely some excitement on their behalf about living just by themselves. The boys, especially Magnus, were still trying to talk Clary out of moving, but she was standing firm on her decision. Jace had different tactics to try and convince her to stay, other than words, but he understood her reasoning.

Living together as friends and living together as a couple were two completely different things.

When they were both in the apartment, they were barely ever apart. When they were all watching TV, they were laying across each other on the couch, they showered together, spent almost every night in one or the others bedrooms. They hadn't reached the point yet where they were cramping each others space, but Jace wouldn't be surprised if that happened at some point if they were planning on staying in the same apartment.

Apartment hunting was horrible, just as the girls had predicted, and the boys insisted on coming to most of the places they went to. Magnus looked the interior design over with a critical eye, Alec and Jace were concerned about the safety while Simon was making sure there were enough power points for when he came over and needed to play _Overwatch_ online. But they eventually found one which made everyone happy—even though Isabelle and Clary kept trying to insist that only _they_ needed to like the place, it wasn't the boys decision—and the girls scraped together bond for the place.

"I don't like this," Jace sighed as he looked around the room. It was dark, probably near midnight, with light only coming from Clary's TV which was playing some movie they had both stopped paying attention to a long time ago. The room was empty, everything boxed up in the corners, except for the furniture. "I'm gonna miss you."

"Still gonna see each other all the time," Clary murmured, pressing kisses to his shoulder and across his pec, down to his nipple, flicking her tongue out and making him hiss.

"Now you're just trying to distract me," he squeezed his fingers around her arm.

"Maybe," Clary lifted her head to grin at him as she glided her hand over the smooth, muscular pane of his stomach and let her hand tease against the front of his boxer briefs.

"I thought girls like it when their man told them how much they were going to be missed?" Jace teased, although his voice choked off a little when Clary pressed down hard against his erection and rubbed her palm along it firmly.

"Yeah, but you've been telling me that for the past month, since I first told you I was going to move out," she swung her leg over his thighs, shuffling down just enough so that she could pull his briefs down, his cock springing free. She reached for the bedside table, where the only thing left in the top drawer was her charger, her hair brush, and a couple of loose condoms. "You're starting to sound a little clingy," she smirked at him as she wiggled out of her own underwear and then rubbed herself against him. She ripped open the condom and slipped it on him, giving his cock a squeeze as she did so.

"A guy really— _fuck_!" Jace broke off, his eyes squeezing shut as she lifted herself up on her knees and then sunk back down, her tight heat making his body tense. "A guy really doesn't like being called clingy," he finally managed to say as she settled herself down, putting both palms on his chest.

"Aw, did I hurt your feelings?" Clary mocked him lightly, sticking out her lower lip at him and batting her eyelashes as she starting circling her hips, clenching around him. Her body shook a little from the pleasure that was surging up her spine and through her limbs.

"How the fuck are you still managing a functional thought right now?!" Jace growled out at her, his eyes still shut and the tendons in his neck showing as he gripped her hips tightly.

"Hm," she considered that teasingly, stopping her movements and tilting her head to the side. "Maybe you're just not doing it right." Jace's eyes sprung open at the little jibe and he narrowed his eyes. She smirked back at him and he let out a short laugh.

"Minx," he hissed out at her, grabbing her hips firmly and flipping them over, still buried inside her to the hilt. Clary let out a squeak at the sudden change of movement, her chest heaving at the way he shoved into her. He hit a spot deep inside her that made the breath feel as though it had been punched out of her throat and her toes curled, fingers gripping the sheet underneath her. His thrusts were firm and steady, his gaze never leaving hers, and Clary could feel her orgasm building in the pit of her stomach.

"Jace..." she sighed out, one her hands coming up to rest on the side of his neck, her thumb smoothing over his jaw. "Jace, I'm gonna—I'm gonna—" he began pushing into her harder and faster, and soon after her own orgasm washed over her, she felt his body jerk and shake and then he dropped his head into the curve of her neck, breathing heavily. She had already been tired, given they had been doing all her packing today to get ready for her big move tomorrow, and this was their third round of sex this evening, her body was begging for sleep.

Her vision blotted black as she faded in and out of consciousness. She was vaguely aware of Jace getting up and leaving the room, undoubtedly to take care of the condom, and then the next time her eyes fluttered open the TV was being turned off. She felt her body being turned over, rolled onto her side, and then Jace slid in behind her, molding himself against her. She let out a murmur of contentment as he draped one hand over her waist, his hand resting over her stomach, and he kissed her shoulder a few times, before they both fell asleep.

* * *

"You know, it's not too late," Magnus stated with his hands on his hips as he looked around the new apartment.

"I'm pretty sure paying the deposit and three weeks rent and moving everything in qualifies as being too late," Clary replied with a laugh as she moved to stand next to him. The two girls didn't have too much furniture on their own, given where they had been living before was a mixture of things from all room mates, but it was enough to start off with.

"Nope," Magnus said stubbornly, setting his jaw. "Still not too late," he huffed under his breath and looked over to where Jace was standing with Alec in the kitchen, moving the girls fridge into place at Isabelle's instruction. "I wasn't kidding when I said we can kick Jace out."

"I can _hear_ you," Jace frowned over at them from the kitchen. "And I'm really starting to think that you just want me out."

"Well _you're_ the reason that she's leaving," Magnus sounded sulky and Clary grinned and looped her arm through his.

"I'm literally three blocks away," she told him. "You guys can come over whenever." The boys in the kitchen finished with the fridge and backed away, wiping their palms on their jeans. It had been a long day, and they had taken a break about an hour ago to order pizza and sat on the ground to eat, using napkins and finding plates in the bottom of one of the unpacked boxes.

"Except now," Isabelle skipped into the lounge and shoved her way between Magnus and Clary, throwing her arms around both of them. "Because it's been a long ass day, and it's already after eleven, and we need to go to sleep." Simon looked as though he wanted to say something, possibly ask if he could stay over but Isabelle just shot him a look. "As in, _me and Clary,_ in our new apartment." Simon pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

"This is weird," Jace murmured as he came over to stand on Clary's other side. "I don't really like it." Clary rolled her eyes and nudged him in the side with her elbow.

"We're meeting for dinner tomorrow," she told him. "I'll see you then." Jace looked hesitant but Clary gave him a gentle push. "Bye," she said to him pointedly and Jace sighed. He leaned in and gave her a hard kiss on the mouth and then took a step toward the door. Magnus gave each of the girls a kiss goodbye, and Alec gave them a hug. Simon and Isabelle were getting all soppy and Clary crinkled up her nose. "You guys are gross."

"You love us," Isabelle said, her lips barely moving away from Simon's. They finally moved away from each other and Simon paused to give her a one armed hug. Clary and Isabelle stood pressed up against each other as they watched the boys leave and then exchanged looked. "I call dibs on the bathroom first, bitch," she grinned before skipping down the hallway.

 _Let me know if you'd like a preview._


	20. Chapter 20

_Hey guys! So I'm back with a new chapter. Now...There is good and bad news. The good news is—this is the second update in the month! Yay! The bad news is...This is my last update of the year. I always go on a bit of a break over Christmas time, and I know that this is a bit earlier than my usual time, but I've got a lot going on in my life right now, and I just think that now is the best time._

 _However, I promise I will be back with more frequent next years! And also, if you guys have prompts or songs that you want me to work into a oneshot, send them through—as a thank you for sticking with me and a sorry for a bit of an extended break. Obviously I won't be able to do all of the requests, due to time restraints and also simply because sometimes an idea or song just doesn't resonate with me, but I will try my hardest! The ship/characters for the fic don't have to be limited to this fandom, you can check out my profile for other fandoms and ships that I love!_

 _Also, I've got the first chapter of four new stories up, so go check them out :)_

 _Oh yes, this is also the second to last chapter of this story!_

The move had been a good idea.

As weeks and then a month went by, Clary was certain of that. She had been a little bit worried that her and Isabelle might not meld together, even though they had been friends for a long time, but it worked out. Both girls worked quite a bit and they were different hours, so they had lots of time to themselves, stopping them from getting in each others way. When they were home together, they took turns making dinner, although the whole cooking thing was a problem to begin with.

Back at the flat, it was Alec and Jace who took care of most of the cooking, and with Isabelle, she tended to give Aline puppy dog eyes until she made dinner for her. Neither of the girls were totally incompetent in the kitchen, although for the first few weeks it was mainly reheated frozen dinners and take out.

Then Alec saw the rubbish and realized what they were eating and he had thrown a hissy fit, saying that his two favourite girls weren't going to live off bland microwaved meals and he had made time in his schedule to come over and teach them a few things. From that point, dinners were a little bit more interesting, even if sometimes there was too much garlic or butter, but the girls made do.

"You got any plans this weekend?" Clary asked as she moved around Isabelle, who was brushing her teeth as Clary straightened her hair behind her, both of them crammed into the tiny bathroom.

"Uh, I think me and Simon are going out for dinner tomorrow night," Isabelle said as she spat into the sink and then turned on the tap.

"Ooh, where are you going?" Clary gave her a smile as she turned off the straightener and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She tugged at the ends of her hair before beginning to braid her fringe. "Somewhere fancy? Or is he taking you to that diner that he loves so much he thinks it constitutes a date?"

"He better not be taking me there," Isabelle's expression went dark as she leaned against the vanity and watched Clary finish her hair and then give herself a critical once over. "I don't know were we're going, but if we're going to that diner then he's not getting laid afterwards." Clary let out a laugh at that and Isabelle tilted her head to the side. "Wedding?"

"Twenty first," Clary corrected.

"You're getting this fancy for a twenty first?" Isabelle crinkled her nose as she looked at what Clary was wearing. It definitely wasn't the nicest dress Clary owned, but it was pretty close, and even the shoes she was wearing had a slight heel to them. "You're meant to go all slutty and sexy to a twenty first."

"Nope," Clary shook her head. "She's the daughter of some big bank investor guy and so it's some big fancy thing with over two hundred guests."

"Ick," Isabelle rolled her eyes. "Oh well, I've got an appointment but it won't run late, did you want me to make you dinner and leave it in the oven?"

"Nah, it'll be late by the time I get back. I don't have to stay for the whole thing, at least they seem to know after a few drinks it's not going to be something that he wants to remember about his baby girl," she smirked. "I'll just grab something on the way back." Isabelle nodded and wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. "What about you?"

"Three girls, it's their Winter Wonderland ball tonight," she huffed out a laugh. "I swear no one decides to go with an original theme." Clary shrugged as she walked out of the bathroom and across the hall to her room to look for a warm cardigan to wear. It was the first week of November, and there was a definite bite in the wind, and she was very glad that events were all being moved inside. She loved winter, but only when she was warm and staring out at the snow and the rain from inside. "Are you going to be warm enough?" Isabelle asked as she looked Clary up and down.

"Yes, _mum_ ," the red head snorted. "I'll be fine," she called over her shoulder as she started heading toward the front door.

"Well, don't say I didn't tell you so when you can't make out with your boyfriend because you're all disgusting and sniffing because you have a cold!" Isabelle shouted after her, and she heard Clary laughing as she shut the door.

* * *

It was late on a Friday afternoon and the office was mainly empty. Jace sighed as he rubbed his fists into his eyes and leaned back in his seat. There was a crick in his neck from the way it had been bent pretty much constantly since he had arrived in the office that morning at eight thirty. Both he and one of the other men in the office, Meliorn Hassouné, had both been promoted a few weeks ago, and assigned to a new case, and both had been working over time to try and get the designs done.

"Yo, Jace," Meliorn called out as he walked toward him. He looked similar to Jace, his face drawn and his tie loosened, shirt untucked since their bosses had all gone home a while ago.

"What's up?" Jace blinked up at him.

"You've got a visitor," Meliorn jerked his thumb over his shoulder. Jace raised his eyebrows and wheeled his chair back a little so he could see straight down the aisle to the elevator. Clary was standing there, looking adorable in jeans, a turquoise jacket wrapped around her with a dark blue scarf that looked suspiciously like his one that went missing a few weeks ago. Her cheeks were a little red from the cold outside and she was holding two styrofoam coffee cups in her hands. When she saw he had noticed her, she gave him a big smile and raised her eyebrows pointedly.

"I think I'm gonna head off," Jace said to Meliorn, who nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna be too far behind you," Meliorn replied. "Have a good night," he backed away, heading back toward his own desk, giving Clary a wave. Jace closed down his computer and quickly straightened up the papers on his desk, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair and pulling it on before picking up his briefcase and walking over to his girlfriend.

"You work too hard," she said by way of greeting as she handed him one of the coffee cups. It was made perfectly, just the way he liked it, and he let out a sigh of contentment before leaning into give her a kiss.

"Eh, someone's gotta do it," Jace shrugged. "And I love my job." Clary smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him in close against her side as she shifted her coffee cup between her fingers so that she could press the button for the elevator. They were quiet as they waited for the elevator and then stepped inside. "You want to go and get sushi?"

"Sushi?" Clary let out an unbelieving snort. "It's fucking freezing outside, and you want to have _sushi_ for dinner?"

"My cravings have nothing to do with the temperature," Jace sniffed at her and she laughed.

"Okay, sushi it is," she nodded. "But we're going and getting it from _Katsubi_ down the block, not those terrible twenty-four hour places."

"It's a deal," Jace nodded and grinned as he leaned in to give her another kiss. They were distracted, and weren't paying attention when the elevator doors slid open a few floors below Jace's and a very familiar blonde girl was standing there. Seelie's eyebrows pulled together at the two of them as she stepped inside, and Clary's eyes went wide as she looked up at Jace. "Hi," he said to her, attempting to give her a smile.

"Hi," Seelie snipped back as she pressed the button for the doors to slide shut. She turned to face the doors, ignoring the couple behind her and Clary and Jace exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. As soon as the doors slid open on the ground floor, she stalked out, not bothering to say goodbye and Clary could barely stop herself from letting out a laugh.

"Well, she was in a good mood," she said under her breath.

"Eh," Jace shrugged as he pulled Clary in closer to her side. "Sushi?"

"Sushi," she confirmed with a nod. It was almost December, and Clary definitely had the right idea with her jacket and scarf, and her feet tucked into boots that came up her calves. Thankfully it wasn't raining, although Jace didn't trust that it was going to hold off from the way the air smelt, but they managed to make it to the sushi bar without getting wet. It was almost seven, and so the place wasn't too busy, although there was still a bit of a wait as they picked up plates and made their way down the bar, choosing out pieces of sushi.

"I've got it," Jace told her when they reached the register and Clary made a move to get her wallet out of her back pocket.

"Nah-uh," she shook her head stubbornly. "You got dinner last time, it's my turn."

"Clary," Jace tried to argue but she gave him a look that he knew he wasn't going to be able to get around her as she handed her debit card over to the amused looking cashier, who rang up both of their orders and charged them to Clary's card. They were quiet as they ate, their legs tangled together under the table. Jace remembered back when they were living together, and there would be times when their feet would brush together under the table. Sometimes he would turn it into a game, playing with her toes or nudging her ankle and waiting for her to respond, but if he was being honest with himself, it was mainly just because he wanted an excuse to touch her.

He didn't need an excuse now.

"What are you smiling about?" Clary asked with a raised eyebrow as she pointed her chopsticks over at him.

"Nothing," Jace shrugged, not bothering to deny that a stupid smile had spread across his face as he looked across the tiny table at her. "Everything."

"That's not ambiguous at all," Clary snorted with a fond smile before she picked up another square of sushi. Once they finished, Clary check the time on her phone and pouted. "I should probably head home," she sighed. "I've got a school production at nine in the morning, and I wanted to do some editing tonight before I go to bed."

"Yeah, I'm coming in for a few hours tomorrow as well," Jace admitted as he finished off the last dregs of coffee from the cup Clary had brought him. "It's times like these that I definitely miss living with you. We wouldn't need to go home to our separate apartments because we need a change of clothes for work tomorrow." Clary nodded as she reached across the table, touching her fingers to the back of his hand, tracing his long fingers with her manicured nails.

"You know it's better off this way for now," she told him with a small smile on her full lips. "But think about how good it will be when we finally do move back in together." Jace smiled back at her, flipping his hand over so it was palm upward, and clasping her hand with his own.

"I know," he said, and she couldn't help but bit her lip and duck her head at his earnest tone. "Come on," he murmured, tugging on her hand. "I'll walk you home."

 _Alright! So, my recommendations this time...Songwise, the ones I've had on repeat are;_ Somebody New _, by Cedric Gervais. Fucking loooove it, my husband hates it, but I play it loud as hell when I'm the only one in the car. Haha._ First Time _by Kygo and Ellie Goulding, this one is cute and sweet, makes me think back to being a teenager. Then there's_ Easy _by Sky Ferreira, which is just beautiful, from the movie_ Baby Driver _, and the last one is_ Too Much To Ask _by Niall Horan, which is just so pretty._

 _Movie wise, I've recently seen_ Kingsmen 2 _, which was fucking great, although my favourite character...*quietly sobs in corner*. Also_ It _, which was great as well, the kids were all so fucking brilliant in that movie, and I have to admit, I ship Reddie. I think they're absolutely adorable. Bill Skarsgard did an amazing job. And then tomorrow, I'll be seeing_ Thor: Ragnorok _! It looks amazing, so fingers crossed._

 _And then in the TV show area, I've just started watching_ The Gifted _, which is pretty good so far. Also binged the second season of_ Shooter _, which I've really enjoyed, and I hope that there's more! Another one is_ Wynonna Earp, _which took me a while to get into, but I love it now. Wynonna and Waverly are just fucking amazing. And then there's just the general shows that I've been keeping up with, like_ How To Get Away With Murder, Gotham _and_ NCIS: Los Angeles _, all of which are great._

 _So! Let me know what you guys think of the chapter, let me know if you guys have any prompts or songs you want me to write about (any of the fandoms I'm in, check my profile, and keep in mind I will try to write them, but can't guarantee all of them) and absolutely recommend any songs, movies, tv shows or fics to me!_

 _There's a preview of the next chapter for a review... xxx_


	21. Chapter 21

_I'm back! We're 2018! It does_ not _feel like it at all. Haha. It still feels like 2017. Anyway, I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Years, fun but safe (even though that make me sounds like a mum). Mine started well and then I had a bit of an accident which is taking a while to recover from, but we'll get there. And I hope that the first month of 2018 has been great! I've got a few concerts coming up which I'm psyched about—Ed Sheeran, Pink and Halsey, so that's awesome._

 _Anyway, this is the final chapter! I've loved writing this fluffy little piece. I hope you guys have enjoyed it!_

"Jon!" Clary cried out as she threw open the door for the boys flat and saw her brother, Jonathon, standing there. "Oh my god—I'm so glad you made it!" She flung herself out, winding her legs around his and clinging to him like an octopus. Jonathon laughed as his bag fell to the ground and he hugged her back, steadying himself by reaching out with one hand and leaning it against the door frame.

"I told you I'd make it, Clare Bear," he hummed out as he grinned over her shoulder to where the apartment was full. "Hey, guys!" He shouted out.

"Jon!" Isabelle yelled as she dropped the present she was shaking, trying to guess what was in it, and ran over to join the siblings.

"Hey, Jon," Jace grinned as he came over to where the three were now standing. Max Lightwood appeared in the hallway behind Jon, clearly just having come out of the elevator, and Isabelle squealed as she ran down to greet her little brother.

"Get your asses in here!" Magnus shouted from where he was in the kitchen, helping Alec with the feast he had been working on since the day before. "You're letting all the hot air out!" Jon grinned as he disentangled himself from his sisters grasp and sidled inside, Clary, Isabelle and Max just behind him. They shut the door securely, instantly wrapped again in the warm air from the two heaters that had been set up in two of the corners of the apartment. The boys apartment sort of looked like a hundred elves had come in and thrown up everywhere, but it was always like that when Magnus was let loose at Christmas time.

"Everyone's here now, Alec," Simon whined from where he was standing behind a line of duct tape that Alec had put down on the floor in the kitchen, ordering that no one was allowed to step over it without express permission. "When do we get to eat?"

"About another ten minutes," Alec said and then shot a glare over at his room mate as Simon tried to stretch out his hand to stick it into the oven dish filled with roast vegetables and potato. Simon quickly snatched back his hand and pouted as he walked back into the lounge. Magnus laughed at the pitiful expression on his face and reached over to kiss his boyfriend. Alec made a noise of protest, saying something that was muffled by Magnus' mouth about needing to focus on carving the ham, but he couldn't bite back his smile. In the lounge, Max was unloading the presents from his bag underneath the vastly decorated tree, and Isabelle instantly honed it on the ones with her name scrawled in black marker, her eyes lighting up.

"Oooh, this looks like it might be jewellery!" She grinned as she picked one up and turned it over in her hands.

"You're fucking terrible," Clary rolled her eyes as she swatted the present out of Isabelle's hand and put it back under the tree. "It's meant to be a surprise. You're not supposed to touch and shake every single present with your name on it to try and guess what's inside!" Isabelle huffed and then shifted her gaze to her younger brother, who was now talking to Simon. There was a soft smile on her face as she saw the two of them laughing when Max said something, and and Clary nudged her in the side. "You good?"

"I'm perfect," Isabelle sighed as she leaned against Clary. Everything felt warm and safe in the apartment; flooded with glitzy ornaments, the smell of amazing food coming from the kitchen, terrible Christmas carols playing from the stereo and surrounded by almost all of the people that she loved most in the world.

"Must be weird, not having Clary living here after all these years together," Jon noted as he snapped the lid of a bottle of beer that Jace handed him.

"Yeah, but there's a lot of things that are different between me and Clary now," Jace said carefully as he looked at Jon out of the corner of his eye. The two of them had been friends for years, even if they weren't as close as they used to be because of the physical distance between them as they had grown older, and it really should have been Jace who had told Jon about the change in Jace and Clary's relationship. What had happened was a photo had gone up on Facebook, it wasn't Jace and Clary in main focus, but they were off to the side an they had been tagged in it. The pair had been kissing, Clary on Jace's lap, and Jon had called Clary a few hours after the photo had appeared. She had told him that they were seeing each other, and he had then rung Jace and the pair had had a very awkward and stilted conversation, going into detail the damage Jon would inflict on Jace if he hurt his baby sister.

"That working out well?" Jon asked quietly, glancing down to where Clary and Isabelle were sitting on the ground, arms pressed against each others as they spoke and laughed quietly.

"Yeah," Jace nodded with a smile as he had a sip of his beer. "It's pretty damn good." Jon watched him for a moment and then nodded and tipped his beer in his direction before taking a drink.

"Dinner's ready!" Alec announced and there was a simultaneous cheer that went up from every person in the apartment. Isabelle scrambled to her feet while Clary moved a bit slower, Jace reaching down and taking her hands to help pull her to her feet and then following after him to the table. Magnus and Alec made several trips into the kitchen, bringing back dish after dish until there was barely any room on the table for people to actually have their plates and eat.

"You're perfection, Alec," Clary breathed as inhaled through her nose. Jace rested his hand on her knee under the table, giving it a squeeze, as they all started on their meals. It was technically Christmas Eve, but they still celebrated as though it was Christmas. On Christmas Day itself, Clary and Jon would go to the other side of the city to spend it with Jocelyn and their step father, Luke Garroway, and this year Jace would be going with them as well. Max, Alec and Magnus were going to spend the full day with the Lightwoods, while Isabelle and Simon were going to be with the Lightwoods in the morning and then spend the evening with Simon's mother and sister.

There had been yet another fall of snow throughout the day, and so there was a slight dusting over the windows which just made it feel even more cosy inside. After they had stuffed themselves with dinner, Isabelle then brought out dessert, which made people around the table literally groan out loud, a mixture of both appreciation and pain at the idea of eating more after they had eaten as much as they could already.

There was a blueberry cheesecake, incredibly made and specially ordered from an expensive little bakery near the girls apartment, along with a raspberry and apple pie.

"I might actually die if I eat anything else," Simon moaned pitifully, resting a hand over his stomach.

"But you will die _happy_ ," Clary pointed out with a smirk as a large piece of cheesecake was cut and put on the plate in front of her. Even when everyone was eating, there was still a whole lot of noise; people talking between bites, the music from the stereo, the sound of Jace bouncing his foot against the floor. After they ate, they crowded into the lounge, spilling over the furniture while Magnus donned a ridiculous Santa hat and started handing out the presents. Isabelle was practically vibrating with excitement on the arm of the couch where she was sitting every time she was passed another present.

They were all staying at the apartment over night. Jon was going to be here for a few weeks, apart from tomorrow, Christmas, and he was going to be staying in Clary's old room which they had converted into a guest room. Isabelle was staying in Simon's room, Clary was staying with Jace and Max was going to be on the couch.

It was after midnight before they all started moving toward their rooms, all of them feeling sluggish after the amount of food they had eaten, and the wine and beer which had been brought out as they opened up their presents. Clary was so tired she didn't even bother to turn on the light when she went into Jace's bedroom first, stripping out of her clothes and then collapsing on top of the covers.

"Come on, babe," Jace laughed as he came back into the room after her, switching on the lamp next to his bed as he manhandled her slim body. He rolled her carefully to the side, pulling back the blankets and then tucking her underneath. She made a noise of contentment as she buried her face into the pillow. Jace got out of his jeans and the hideous Christmas sweatshirt that Isabelle had gifted him and forced him to wear. "You good?" He asked as he jerked off his socks and tossed them toward the washing basket in the corner of the room.

"I'm good," Clary mumbled as he slid under the covers next to her. She curled up against him and then raised her eyebrows when he didn't turn the light off. "What's up?" She asked and he didn't answer, instead just pointing a finger to the bedhead above them. She frowned as she looked up and let out a laugh. "Oh my god," she snorted. "That's cheesy as fuck." Mistletoe hung from his bedhead, above their heads.

"Yeah, well, I'm cheesy as fuck for you," Jace sung out as he leaned in to nuzzle his nose into her neck.

"There are _so_ _many_ things I could say right now," Clary teased.

"Oh, come on," Jace rolled his eyes this time. "I'm being romantic here!"

"Okay, okay, I'll play along," Clary smiled and then shuffled closer to him, their lips coming together. The kiss was slow and sweet and sleepy. When they pulled apart, Jace's golden eyes were heavy with affection and Clary's stomach tightened as they stared at each other.

"I love you," Jace told her, his voice slow and sure. She blinked and for a split second, she looked surprised. But his hand kept rubbing slow circles on her back and she felt so cared for and adored, with the way he kept staring at her, and the words just felt so natural coming from her mouth, they felt so right.

So true.

"I love you too."

 _Let me know what you guys thought! One last review for this fic?_

 _Hope you guys have enjoyed :)_


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